


The Lord and The King

by MyGemsonaIsGay



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, End Game Spoilers, Feels, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not A Fix-It, One-Sided Peter Quill/Gamora, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Thor Is Honestly The Biggest Trans Ally, Trans Loki (Marvel), Trans Peter Parker, Trans Peter Quill, Transphobia, gender fluid Loki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-03-07 08:51:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18869851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyGemsonaIsGay/pseuds/MyGemsonaIsGay
Summary: END GAME SPOILERS!It's been a few months since everyone came back to life and Peter, Thor, Nebula, and his typical crew headed back into space. But instead of deal with the trauma and feelings of losing Gamora for good, Peter has lost himself in working and fighting his way through the galaxy. He barely even listens to music anymore. No one says anything, until Peter fucks up during a fight and ends up injured. The push from his new family forces him to take a rest, but the quiet time does nothing but force him to process Gamora's death. Thor takes it upon himself to help his captain get back on his feet but ends up with more than he bargained for while also being forced to reflect upon losing Loki and the rest of his family.





	1. Off My Game

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets hurt while fighting, Thor doesn't let him hide it.

            Quill stared up at the ceiling of the ship, trying to collect his thoughts. It had only been a few months now since Gamora died. Well, technically over five years and nearing closer to six, but being dust for five of those years felt like it shouldn’t count. Sure, the two were never more than friends, but Quill had as strong of feelings as he could possibly muster for her. She just didn’t feel the same. That didn’t stop him from trying, but there was nothing he could do to convince a dead person to love him.

            His chest squeezed, dead. She was dead. He knew that, he had to accept it, though that was easier said than done. He tried to focus all his energy on something else, anything else. Another job, another planet, another argument with Rocket. His friends were softer on him than they used to be, he knew that, but that just made it hurt more. There was an obvious hole in the crew that Nebula and Thor couldn’t fill no matter how much they seemed to try.

            Some days Peter had the energy to argue with the god, but most of the time he gave passing comments or ignored him completely. It wasn’t fair, he knew that, but Thor never seemed to take it to heart. During one of Peter’s many drunken nights, he even remembered Thor clapping him on the shoulder as gently as he could muster and gave him a soft look before explaining that he had been in the same situation and would be willing to help Peter get out of it. Of course, drunk Peter was unkind and refused immediately, even called Thor an asshole. He regretted it a bit, but Thor’s face only seemed to soften more. He left Quill alone for the rest of the night.

            The red head sighed lowly to himself, managing to push the heavy blanket off of his body before climbing out of bed. He had to relieve Rocket or he’d never hear the end of it. It was his turn for ‘night’ duty, not that they could even tell the difference in the middle of space. It was a robotic feat to change his clothes, swapping out his sleeping pants for his usual ones. His shirt was pulled off as well and for a second he just stared into the mirror.

            The scars from the final battle between everyone and Thanos were already fading. He wasn’t hurt all that badly, but in a huge fight like that, how could he not end up with some new scars and bruises. It was almost funny how easily they had faded though. One of the most important battles that would ever happen in the universe and he wouldn’t even have a single mark in a year’s time to remind him of it. On the other hand, far less important things had left permanent memories across his body. Some from learning how to use a knife for the first time, others from lovers that turned sour partly through, and of course…

            Peter slid his fingers across the jagged, harsh scars that underlined his pecs. A surgery in a shady place that he shouldn’t have trusted. They’d likely never completely fade, a constant reminder of how he wasn’t born with the body he wanted. He knew that Earth was nowhere near as kind about it than Yondu had been. He was quick to pick up the name Peter and call him ‘boy’ when he needed his attention. It was quickly picked up by the rest of the crew, half of their species barely even having a concept of gender, let alone that Peter was anything but what he said he was.

            One of the best parts about being a space pirate was that if you needed something, you’d find it. So when Peter needed artificial hormones, Yondu got them for him. Of course, after a lot of grumbling and ‘you owe me’s, Peter was presented with a very shady shot. After a while, he opted to have a hormone control implanted in his arm instead though, again from a back-alley surgeon much like his chest surgery.

            Peter was quickly knocked out of his thoughts when he felt the familiar shake of the ship entering atmosphere. His brows furrowed; he didn’t remember talking about a stop. Quickly, he pulled on a shirt and his usual jacket before all but dashing out of the room. He got to the cockpit and grabbed onto the closest chair, Thor’s. Ignoring it, he frowned.

            “Rocket, what the fuck? Warn a guy before-“ Peter was quickly cut off by Mantis’ concerned words.

            “There was a distress call.” She said frantically, “It came suddenly. It came from four ships all in the same area.”

            Quill blinked, brows furrowing before he moved to slide into and empty seat and buckle up. Four ships? Usually Rocket at least pretended to be interested in the money, but he was almost silent at the wheel. It would be a mess getting into this, but he knew that the entire party was leaning far more toward doing good for the sake of good than money. It was Gamora’s memory that drove them. Though he was sure later on Rocket would come up with some excuse about ‘four ships means more likelihood for profit’ or something of the like.

 

            “I fucking knew it was a trap!” Peter grunted, hiding behind a downed ship, blaster taking a second to recharge. Rocket was on the other side, grunting, holding up his own blaster before peeking out on the other side of their cover.

            “Yeah, yeah. Blame me for trying to earn enough cash so that the _literal god_ doesn’t eat us out of house and home.” Rocket complained, squinting his eyes before shooting off a few times.

            “That’s a lie, you just wanted to help people.” Peter teased, matching Rocket’s movements as he shot out as well, quickly curling back behind cover once shots were returned.

            “Oh, shut up.” Rocket hissed but didn’t deny it. Instead of continuing the conversation though, he quickly scurried off toward another vantage point and Peter gave a small smirk.

            Once the redhead noticed the lack of shots, he got up and used his rocket boots to fly up and shoot at some of the enemies. It was a bit hard to both flip in the air and aim his blaster correctly, but he wanted to show off a bit and he was starting to lose himself in the rush of a fight.

            Anyone that regularly kicked alien ass with Peter could tell he was starting to slip up more and more. His focus off, more mistakes being made. It was because the rush always brought him back to Gamora. He used to show off for her, fight back to back with her and make sure she saw his every time he’d show off. She was always unimpressed, or seemed to be, but that never stopped Peter from doing it anyway and managing to get a small chuckle out of her every now and then.

            “Fuck!” The word was suddenly ripped from Peter’s lips as he felt an intense sting. He landed on the ground, managing to take cover before looking down. His white undershirt was quickly becoming stained with red at his new wound on his side. Great… Just great. He hissed softly and put his hand to it. He was being careless again, losing himself in his memories of Gamora. He was off his game ever since she died, sure, but he had never gone and gotten himself _shot_. If anyone else found out he’d never hear the end of it. He might even have to talk about things.

            He winced at the thought, deciding instead to zip up his jacket before slipping out from behind cover. He was going to have to end this quickly before he lost too much blood and he couldn’t hide his mistake from everyone else. One more thing they’d have to worry about.

            Peter blasted two more before he rocketed over to his ship, landing at the entrance and not even bothering to ask if everything was clear before he headed in and went straight for his room. If anyone happened to glance at him now, they would easily notice that he was pale, a bit out of breath, and starting to get dizzy. Lucky for him though, no one seemed to notice as they were likely very busy with their own fights.

            He felt a bit bad for leaving everyone hanging, but at the same time, his side was becoming a pressing issue. Once his door was closed, he quickly unzipped his coat and tugged off his shirt. Ah, that was a problem. The wound wasn’t too big, but what it lacked in diameter, it made up for in depth. At least it didn’t seem to of hit anything too vital. He grabbed the first aid kit out from under his bed and opened it up, ready to get to work before his door slid open.

            Peter jumped, not expecting anyone to be on the ship, let alone done with the fight. He was quick to draw his blaster and aim it at the figure in the doorway before quickly realizing who it was… Thor. He gave a small huff and lowered his gun before realizing he was still shirtless and bleeding out. Obviously the god noticed as well because his usual smile was wiped from his face and he looked concerned, caring very little for privacy as he stepped into the room fully.

            It wasn’t until hands reached out that Peter lifted his blaster again. “Hey! Get out of my room asshole!” He yelled, seeming fully prepared to shoot the newest member of his crew if he so much as took another step.

            Of course, regardless of the warnings, Thor stepped closer anyway and grabbed the kit from the bed to fish everything he needed out. Even with Peter’s blaster against his chest, he still started work on cleaning up the wound and inspecting it. Finally he spoke, giving a quiet snort, “Honestly, sometimes I really do wonder if you are my brother in disguise. I would not put it past him.”

            Now Peter was confused about what Thor was even talking about, giving a loud hiss when disinfectant was applied to his wound and he just tossed his blaster onto his bed. “Stop it, asshole. I can do this.” He moved to pull away but before he could get so much as an inch, Thor’s free hand reached out to grab his hip firmly, just to ensure that Peter didn’t squirm away.

            “But it is easier to have someone else do it.” Thor stated, having been through this time and time again with Loki when his brother would try and hide his own injuries from his older brother. “If you hold still, this will be over quickly.”

            Quill wanted to argue, but the alcohol against his wound just pulled a hiss from his throat. After that it was easy enough to give up, resigning to looking down to watch the god work. Thor patched him up with easy, this not being anywhere near the first time he’d had to help someone actively bleeding, though usually it was Loki or an Avenger after a fight. He had to keep in mind that midgardians were far more fragile than his usual ‘patients’.

            It was a few minutes of awkwardly standing and bandage wrapping before Thor finally stepped back from the other, happy with his work. It hurt in painful pulses, but at least Peter wasn’t bleeding out onto the floor and it’d get better. Honestly Quill thought that’d be the end of it and the blonde would turn and be on his way out of the room but he stood there, arms crossed over his chest and oh… He was expecting an explanation wasn’t he. If there was anything he didn’t want to talk about right now though, it was how he managed to get himself shot as well as the fact that he was getting worse and worse at keeping his cool in a fight. This wasn’t his first mistake, but it was the most potentially fatal.

            Instead of giving in to the silent demand of an explanation though, Quill turned, grabbing a new shirt and pulling it on before stepping over and holstering his pistol once again. He quietly put away his first aid kit and sat down on his bed, getting increasingly irritated by the silence. “What?” He finally said to break the silence, glaring over at the man with mismatched eyes.

            “I am not as unintelligent as you would like to believe me to be.” Thor said simply, his stance staying firm, “This has been going on a long time.” He shook his head, “You are getting worse. I know it is because you are thinking of-“

            “Don’t fucking say it.” Peter stood up, stepping over to the slightly taller man and glaring into his eyes. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve been fighting how I normally fight. Sometimes people fuck up, I’m sure even you have.”

            Something seemed to flash in Thor’s good eye, his stance wavering a bit but managed to get more tense. Peter realized he’d struck a cord with the other, not that he was even meaning to.

            “Look, just don’t mention this to anyone alright? They’ve had enough to deal with and me being hurt on top of that…” Peter trailed off, stepping back from the other.

            “No.” Thor stated without hesitation, becoming slightly less tense but still standing firm. He wasn’t going to back down. “You are their captain, Quill, their family. You absolutely must not lie to them or hide this. It will only make it worse.”

            Peter hated how right the other was, but it wasn’t a lie that mattered. It wasn’t like he was hiding a dead body under his bed. It was just a little injury. They’d probably insist he take it easy and rest, but he needed to stay busy to distract himself. “I’m not letting Rocket think he’s the captain by taking over my shifts.” He didn’t want Rocket to kill himself doing nothing but flying the ship. He was the only one that even could fly their ship. The only other person there was even a bit of hope in was Nebula, but Peter was sure there’d be a learning curve still.

            “With an injury like that? You need your rest.” Thor insisted, stepping forward for the first time and placing a hand on the other’s chest to push him toward the bed without trying to jostle him too much and hurt his side even more.

            “I’m not a child. I know what I can handle.” Peter argued, trying to push back against the other but being nowhere near as strong. It was only a second before Thor pulled his arm back carefully, not wanting the other to exert too much force and hurt himself.

            “Honestly… Are you absolutely sure you are not Loki?” Thor mumbled to himself before moving to cross his arms again, “If you do not tell them, then I will. And they will not be happy hearing the news of your injury from me and not you. If they allow you to pilot then by all means, go ahead, but if they refuse then you must accept my helping you rehabilitate.” Thor gave a small smirk, already knowing what the answer from the crew would be.

            Peter simply glared at the other, determined to prove him wrong. It wasn’t like piloting a ship was going to be difficult with an injury anyway. There was no way they’d say no.


	2. Sit With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's bad at coping, Thor decides he needs company.

            They said no.

            When Quill explained that he had been shot, a little bit, his new crew looked both unsurprised and a bit concerned, at least Mantis looked concerned.

            Rocket just groaned and told him to rest before Peter became ‘even more useless than he already was’. But the redhead was determined to prove he could still pilot the ship. That ended… About as terribly as it could really. He tried to steer for a second before pain shot up his side at all his pulling and gripping at the controls in front of him. Even Groot, who was distracted by yet another game, knew how uncomfortable Peter was even if he insisted that he could do it. By the end of the argument, the raccoon had Nebula forcefully drag Quill back to his room, Thor trotting behind with a confident smirk on his face. He had won and that only pissed Peter off even more.

            He pulled free from Nebula’s grip and huffed as he headed into his room himself, all but flopping down onto his bed despite the pain in his side. It was only a second later that Thor was hovering in the doorway to his room, likely waiting to see if the other needed anything. Peter decided the best way to go about dealing with Thor right now was to completely ignore him and hope he went away like usual.

            It was quiet in the ship, the creaking of the metal being the only constant sound. Quill’s eyes flicked up to the Zune sitting lonely on his nightstand. He could plug it in and listen to the music to distract himself like usual, but it was getting harder and harder to tolerate the songs. Every time a song came on, it reminded him of Gamora. How he managed to get her to dance to this one, how she told him that one was her favorite, how her eyes would darken when he played those two. He’d throw the damn music player against the wall if he had a bit less self-control. Instead he just stared blankly at his nightstand as he waited.

            Ever since they started traveling again, he had filled his head with sleeping, piloting, and fighting every chance he got. When he had time alone, he’d drink or think about the next mission. There was always something to think about, some way to keep himself distracted. He wondered how long they’d keep him here before he’d be deemed well enough to lose himself back in the mindless work he was so used to.

            Peter hadn’t even noticed he was crying until a tear slipped down his cheek and landed on his hand. He grumbled, scrubbing his eyes with his sleeve before looking back to make sure Thor hadn’t noticed. To his surprise though, the blonde wasn’t even there anymore. He sighed, laying back and putting his arm over his eyes as he fought back the tears and the feelings that were welling up in the dark loneliness that was his room.

            The tap of something cold against his hand startled him and Peter quickly removed his hand from his eyes as he stared at the quiet god. Ever since they got back to his room, the other had been far more quiet than usual, his usual huge smile cast away instead for furrowed brows and a small, softer smile. It only managed to annoy Peter more though. His eyes glanced down to the water being offered along with what he could only assume was pain killers.

            _Oh._ He must have thought Peter’s crying was in pain. He had half a mind to refuse help from the other, shove the slightly taller man out the door and give him the finger before taking care of himself like usual. But he did make a sort of deal with the other. He was conflicted, but took the pills and water anyway, gulping both down. He handed the cup back to the expecting hand before giving a small huff and laying back down. The last time he got babied like this was when Gamora- No. Stop thinking about her.

            He squeezed his eyes shut and put his arm over them once again, trying to keep the tears at bay, especially in front of Thor. The last thing he needed was ‘the perfect man’ to see even more of Peter’s imperfections. Just another thing his crew could compare them over and thus make fun of Peter about.

            “You need rest. I will leave you, but I will be back for the next meal.” Thor’s voice pulled Peter from his thoughts and he only gave a nod at the other before finally hearing his door open and shut.

            The redhead moved his arm to see that the room was once again empty, though now with the light off, and he couldn’t help but let his tears slide down his cheeks again. Damn it, this is exactly why he kept himself busy. Thinking about Gamora did nothing good for any of them. Even while the rest of the crew had a long while of mourning, Peter kept busy and moved them to their next destination, their next job. He cracked jokes to see smiles and even made Nebula give what could have been a half smile, in the right light at least. But all that time he had stopped himself from mourning, from making it real. If he admitted to himself that Gamora was really gone, then she would be. Not that she’d be alive if he refused to accept her death either.

            Peter’s fist gripped his blankets hard, a frown on his face as he tried to distract himself. He looked over at his Zune one more time before just grabbing it and plugging it into the speakers. Just one song won’t hurt. He could try and find one that didn’t remind him of Gamora.

            A song began to play. Gamora would dance of her own accord to this song. He thought it was probably her favorite. He always loved the way her eyes would light up when- _Skip._

            This one made her look off out the window, her face cast of emotions like she didn’t want to let herself feel the words. _Skip._

            The next one to come on was what he designated as ‘their song’. The song he got her to dance with him to. She looked so happy that night, showered in the light from the moon and rolling her eyes at his cheesy one-liners. That was all over now and he was going to have to accept it sooner or later. He slammed his fist onto his nightstand, why hadn’t he gotten new songs while he was on earth. With that, he flipped the music off again, getting up from his bed.

            He didn’t want to think about it, how could he? Instead he opened up the door to his room, taking a glance out to make sure no one was around. He didn’t want someone to complain that he was already walking around instead of resting. He made his way effortlessly to the fridge, grabbing three beers before heading right back to his room. Mission accomplished. Peter flopped down onto his bed, giving a hiss as he remembered the pain again, before far more carefully opening up his beer and taking a drink of it. Better.

 

            A soft knock came at the door before it slid open. In the doorway stood the familiar blonde, bowl in hand. He expected to find a resting Quill, but instead found a drinking one instead. Mis-matched eyes rolled as he stepped into the room, dodging the already-finished bottles on the floor. Green eyes flicked up to see the god and his usual drunken huff came from him.

            “You are only going to make it harder for your injury to heal and not bleed.” Thor pointed out, placing the food on the nightstand before examining the bottles on the floor. There were quite a three and one in the redhead’s hand while a few more unopened bottles sat on the bed. All he got in response was a grunt from the shorter man, finishing off his bottle before letting it fall to the floor. “Do you want to talk about it?” The god asked, sitting on the edge of the bed, knowing full well how Peter seemed to hate him when he drank.

            “That iron guy told me you lost your whole family.” Peter slurred out, staring at the other, seeming to be fully happy with prodding the other. “That your brother died in front of you.” Thor was tense, fingers gripping lightly at the sheets under his hand.

            “Yes.” The blonde stated, maybe this was Peter’s way of trying to open up. It was uncomfortable and not what he wanted to talk about, but maybe if it’d help.

            “Such a shame. You watched it happen and didn’t even do anythin’ to stop it.” Peter’s words were harsh and only made Thor tense up more, trying as hard as he could to keep his anger under control.

            “I couldn’t-“

            “You’re a fuckin’ _god_!” Peter sat up, frowning at the other, “You couldn’t even kill one purple asshole? You had two fuckin’ chances! Two!”

            “And _you_ did not?” Thor stood, glaring down at the drunk and injured man. “Quill, if I remember correctly, you also had two chances to kill him. Once when your beloved was being taken away, and one when you could have saved everyone from becoming dust. That is, if The Man of Iron’s words are anything to go by. Why did _you_ not kill him either time?”

            Peter’s brows furrowed and he looked away, fists gripped tight in the blanket below him. He didn’t have a good answer. Well, the first time he was completely powerless and his gun turned into bubbles, but he wasn’t even aiming at Thanos at that point. The second time he let his emotions get the better of him. Gamora was dead. How could he do anything but focus on that. Gamora was dead.

            Gamora was-

            Gamora _is_ dead.

            _Fuck_.

            Without his permission, tears began to slide quickly down his cheeks and he grumbled, pulling up his knees. Perfect, just what he needed. Quill quickly buried his face into his knees, trying to hide just how much he was crying even if his shoulder shaking and quiet noises were giving him away far more. Now Thor was going to make fun of him for this too. Tell him he’s not a man, tell the rest of the crew.

            Instead of that though, Peter felt the bed shift with weight. He was about to look up when strong arms just wrapped around him, pulling him in. It was definitely awkward, especially since it wasn’t often that Quill got hugs, let alone from guys, but he couldn’t bring himself to care too much as his legs unfolded and he let himself be dragged into the embrace.

            “Gamora and Loki are gone, but that does not mean they wish for us to stop living our lives. That does not mean they wish for us to be consumed in sadness and regret. It took me far longer than it should have to accept that. We should be able to celebrate the lives that they lived, rather than only mourn the abrupt ending that they had.” The god just kept the embrace going, a hand rubbing up and down the other’s back in his best comforting embrace he could. It was usually Loki that he did these things for, but again, he was gone too.

            It took Peter a while of just letting the tears flow, but the touch was calming and eventually got him to stop. He didn’t wrap his arms around the other, simply keeping one arm down while his other hand gripped at the other’s shirt tightly. It was all the energy he managed to muster. He took a long breath before managing to talk against the other’s chest. “When I’d get sick, Gamora would make sure I didn’t leave my room and brought me food.” He loosened his grip on the other’s shirt, sighing shakily. “And I play my music to calm down, but it all jus’ reminds me of Gamora. Probably should have gotten more music when I visited Earth.” He grumbled lightly.

            While Peter went and spilled his guts to the other, Thor kept his hand on the other’s back, making soothing circles with his hand in comfort. It was obviously helping at the very least so he’d keep it up until Peter had finished trailing off on the last few points. A lot of his speech was about fond memories he had with Gamora which was good to hear. Thor knew the other had barely even talked about her at all since the blonde showed up as part of the crew. It was only when the other’s brought up Gamora that the redhead would even begin to speak about her. It was nice to finally hear a lot about her.

            Once Peter was done, Thor expected that to be the end of it, but instead, the shorter man’s hand gripped at the other’s shirt again gently. That got the god’s attention as he glanced down a bit, though Quill’s face was still pressed into the other’s chest. “Tell me about Loki.” He finally mumbled, gripping a bit tighter.

            Thor’s heart clenched a bit, but he did say that it was important to honor their memories and Peter also shared a lot about his one-sided love toward Gamora. The blonde hummed lightly, smiling fondly as he started. “Loki was my brother… Well sometimes sister? Often sibling.” He pointed out before chuckling lightly, “But however they presented, they were always my little sibling to me.”

            Thor was about to start in a story before Peter pushed back from the other, brows furrowed as he stared up at the god. “Loki… Wait.” He was obviously confused, having never really encountered this exact situation. “Sometimes sister? Often sibling? But your brother?”

            “Oh. Midgardians.” Thor mumbled lightly, shrugging. “Loki was… Well I do not know the name earthlings used to call it, but the young Peter informed me that it was Fluid Gender.” He pointed out, a bit proud of sort of remembering the name. But the face Quill gave in response was even more confusion. “I believe the Man of Spiders explained that it means that one’s gender changes from time to time. So sometimes Loki expressed himself as male, herself as female, or themself as outside of those. It was hard to follow but he was very patient with me.” He smiled lightly. “After a few hundred years or so, it was easier to understand the expressions.”

            It wasn’t that Peter hadn’t heard of that sort of thing before, but he had never thought that happened with humans, or human-like aliens he supposed. He felt a bit better about his own struggles for a minute before Thor went on to continue.

            “With that out of the way, I will tell you about Loki.” The blonde hummed, sitting back a bit now that they were no longer in their embrace. “Oh, there are so many stories.” And many came. Going from the classic story of Loki turning into a snake and then stabbing him all the way to the adventures they’d get up to in their youth. He participated in a prank or twenty with his younger sibling when they were bored. Especially when they were younger as they were far closer. But Loki was always the one punished for them and Thor always got scolded harshly.

            It was easy to forget that Peter had even drank, but it quickly became obvious as the other started getting more and more tired as the stories went on and eventually just fell asleep against his headboard. By the time Thor noticed, Quill was fast asleep and the blonde had just finished up a story about how Loki turned the water in a fountain into frogs during a party.

            Getting up, Thor tugged the other to lay down a bit better and covered him with a blanket before moving to clean up the floor a bit. Hopefully this would help Quill at least start to get better. Once the bottles were gone, including the two unopened, the god turned off the light and stepped out, making his way to the fridge to get rid of all the beer he could find. He’d get a stiff grumble from Rocket, but Thor cared a bit more about Peter than a scolding from the raccoon.


	3. We're A Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nebula and Mantis fight, Peter listens to music again.

            Waking up was rough. A headache split across Peter’s head as he sat up. ‘Someone forgot to drink water’ he could practically hear Gamora tease him. He rolled his eyes, scooting to the edge of his bed before glancing up and noticing the pills, water, and note. He grabbed it, giving it a glance over though he figured he already knew who it was from.

 

            _Peter,_

_I expect you have neglected water in your endeavor last night. Midgardians are quite fragile to the effects of alcohol; thus, I have supplied you with some tablets to help you cope with your impending sickness._

_I have also taken the liberty of clearing out the alcohol from the fridge as I do not see it helping your recovery any time soon. Rest easy._

_Your friend,_

_Thor :)_

            Peter couldn’t help but stare blankly at the note for a while, brows furrowed. He remembered everything from yesterday, which only made him cringe a bit. Perfect, he cried in the other’s chest, talked about Gamora, and passed out. Now Thor thought they were friends. Well… It wasn’t like they weren’t not, _not_ friends…

            He huffed out a frustrated sigh and crumpled up the paper, tossing it at least near his wastebasket before chugging down the water and pills like his life depended on it.

            The rest of the morning was spent in a rather boring silence. He still hadn’t turned his music on, but he did find that when he thought about Gamora, it was less painful and intense. He tried to think of the good, focus on it like Thor tried to teach him. It helped to keep his hands busy and he did, with a ball he had found in a drawer and was throwing against the wall.

            _Thunk._

            _Thunk._

_Thunk._

Instead of the ball hitting the wall this time, there simply was no sound. Peter furrowed his brows, sitting up a bit before rolling his eyes. Thor stood in the doorway, one hand holding the ball that tried to hit him and the other with another bowl of what Peter could only assume was gruel.

            “You know, back on my planet, the one you’ve been to, we had this weird custom of actually knocking on doors.” Quill pointed out, flopping back on the bed, his side hurting far less than it did yesterday, more of a dull sting.

            “I did knock.” Thor pointed out, stepping into the room so he could return the ball and place the bowl down on the nightstand next to the Zune. “It is not my fault you were too distracted to hear.”

            Peter simply returned the ball to the drawer he found it in, taking the bowl from the nightstand after. “You don’t have to baby me. I can get my own-“ Looking down at the bowl confirmed his suspicions, definitely slimy space gruel. He all but stuck his tongue out, making a face like a child faced with their least favorite vegetable, “… Food.” He finished up, not sure if that was even the appropriate word for whatever this stuff was. It was always hard on the crew when they were between payments and ended up at the bottom of their cupboards.

            “I am sure you are capable.” Thor said simply, picking up the small music device to look it over, “But I believe the Rabbit would like you to stay in bed a while longer. He is having fun being the stand-in captain while you are away.”

            What Peter wanted to say was something along the lines of ‘he can enjoy it while it lasts’ or even ‘it’s only been one day, what kind of power trip is he already having’, but what managed to come out was, “Has he slept?”

            “Oh yes.” Thor moved to plug the Zune into its speaker, paying little attention to anything besides that and the other’s words. “Nebula offered to pilot as well. She does not seem very experienced with this type of ship, but it is far better than I could ever do.”

            It was at that moment that Peter realized that Thor was hitting play and he sat up quickly, his wound hurting a bit as he did. He quickly grabbed the other’s wrist, but it was too late, the faint beats of a song began.

            Thor was obviously taken aback by the action and moved to pull away his wrist to turn back off the song, but Peter’s hand tightened. It wasn’t anything that would even stop the blonde, but the fact that the other was trying to stop him kept him in his tracks. It was a few seconds, as the song actually started, before Peter let go of the other’s wrist and shoved the spoon of his food into his mouth with a mumbled, “Leave it.”

            “Sorry.” Thor mumbled back, stepping back a bit to collect the cup from this morning. He knew that music calmed the other down, or at least heard from the other crew members. Though Mantis had pointed out that Peter hadn’t actually played music in a while.

            The blonde knew when he wasn’t wanted and moved back toward the door before pausing again, “We are going to be stopping on a planet called J59. The Rabbit has something to attend to, but it would be good to get fresh air.” He pointed out simply, not wanting to force the other but at the same time it would be good.

 

            The planet was mostly barren, sand filled most areas as far as the eye could see. What wasn’t being occupied by sand was being occupied by large rocks, one of which their ship had landed on. It was flat, hot, and ultimately uninteresting. Rocket grumbled something about sand people not liking strangers and scampered off into the hot wasteland, seeming to go nowhere in particular. It’d be a pain if he got lost.

            The rest of the crew was outside as well, Drax sitting on a rock near the ship, Thor standing close-by the other large man, and Peter standing next to him. Groot however was sitting next to Drax, distracted by a video game as per the usual. Why they were gathered around was because of the admittedly interesting show in front of them.

            Mantis grunted, throwing her fist forward, barely missing Nebula’s cheek by an inch. If the blue woman hadn’t moved, it would have made contact easily. It was another half a minute before Nebula swept her leg around and knocked Mantis to the ground, blue arms folded as she stared down at the empath.

            “Your stance is too narrow. I told you to widen it.” Nebula stated simply, watching as the other woman got up and dusted off her legs.

            “Again.” Mantis slid into what was close to the proper stance and Nebula moved forward to fix it, pushing her hips down, sliding her foot to the side.

            Once Nebula took her own stance, the two were at it once again. This had been going on for a while now. Ever since Gamora hadn’t returned. At first, Mantis had asked Peter to train her, but he refused assuming she was too frail and not wanting to hurt her. But she didn’t give up, asking Nebula to help her next. The first few times only managed to piss Peter off as it was just Nebula beating up the weakest member of the crew over and over again. But it was Mantis who got up every time, no matter how many bruises, no matter how much it hurt, and repeated ‘again’ as she did to master combat better.

            Peter knew why too. It was because when Thanos took Gamora, there was nothing any of them could do. Mantis told him that she felt powerless, that she couldn’t help because she was weak. He tried to reassure her, pointed out she made him sleep just with words, but she refused to accept that as any kind of strength. So, for months, every time they stopped, this was her regular.

            Mantis hit the ground hard, going down elbow-first and made a pained sound. Nebula quickly crouched down, carefully taking the arm and her usually stoic face was wiped off, showing clear concern. The brown-haired girl pushed Nebula aside though, standing back up and panting. She slid back into the pose and stared at the blue woman. “Again.” She said simply.

            “No.” Nebula stood back up, frowning. “You just hurt yourself, you’ll only make your injury worse.” She insisted.

            “It does not hurt.” Mantis shot back, keeping her stance, “I can do it. Just let me. Again.”

            Without getting back into her stance, Nebula quickly reached out and grabbed the hurt arm, causing Mantis to cry in pain again. All three men were about to move into the space before Nebula continued.

            “It doesn’t hurt, huh?” Nebula let go before turning and stepping back over to the boys, grabbing the first aid kit, before turning quickly and going back over to Mantis. She was a lot gentler this time, carefully, as if she’d break the other, rolling up the other girl’s sleeve before attending to the new wound on her elbow. She carefully checked it over to make sure it wasn’t broken or sprained before finishing up.

            “I am sorry.” Mantis mumbled lightly as she looked away while the other finished up. “I got carried away. I know the rule is that if I get seriously hurt, we stop…” She trailed off.

            Nebula brought her hand up to the other’s cheek, “You fought so well.” She managed the smallest smile over to the other, something she was trying to get more and more used to, “Do you understand how many times you hit me? I’d consider that a huge improvement. And your form is becoming far less stiff as well. Soon you’ll be the one knocking me down.”

            “It is only because you are a good teacher.” Mantis insisted, becoming more flustered by the compliments. She reached out, holding the other’s spare hand.

            “Come on! Get a room!” Peter called out, ruining the moment between the two. Nebula’s face slid back into its usual stoic nature, looking over to glare at the redhead.

            Mantis on the other hand only giggled at that and reached up to put her hand on the back of Nebula’s neck which gained her attention. The shorter girl then pulled her in to press their lips together sweetly.

            “Aww.” Drax let out, his attention never wavering from his friends in front of him.

            “They make a lovely couple.” Thor nodded.

            Peter simply rolled his eyes, arms crossing over his chest. “If she breaks my sister’s heart, I’m kicking her ass.” He said simply.

            “I’d like to see you try.” Drax pointed out, actually serious about the words.

            “Have they not been together since the beginning of our travels? I am sure their relationship is strong.” Thor pointed out simply as the two girls came back to join them.

            At hearing the tail end of the conversation, Mantis flushed lightly, giggling again though more out of embarrassment than anything.

            “If this is about what I think it is, for the last time I have no plans to hurt Mantis.” Nebula pointed out, still holding her partner’s hand. “And there isn’t a chance you could beat me in a fight.”

            “Oh yeah?” Peter stood up a bit taller, even if he wasn’t all that far off height wise to Nebula. The blue woman reached out simply, prodding his side where his wound was, and he quickly cringed, backing off in pain.

            “Yes.” She stated.

            Mantis let go of her partner’s hand, reaching out to gently place it on Peter’s shoulder as he recovered from the pain. He stared back over to her and she smiled at him, “I am glad you are feeling better.”

            Peter gave a small smile to her, reaching up to ruffle her hair.

 

            It wasn’t too much longer before Rocket returned, shaking the sand off of his fur with a small huff.

            “Who won?” Rocket asked, shoving his newly full bag onto the table.

            “I am Groot.” The wooden teenager called out, glaring at the screen of his game before it was yanked out of his hand by Peter.

            “What did I tell you? You’re already over your daily maximum.” Peter scolded.

            “Damn, my bet was on Mantis this time.” Rocket shrugged, scrabbling up to a chair. “It’s our lucky day ladies and gents, because Captain Rocket here has landed us some sweet dough. Next stop, actually having food.”

            The crew moved carefully back to their respective places. Peter arguing that he was okay to fly, but push back came quickly that moving his arms for hours was only going to agitate his wound. That and it had only just barely been a day since he was shot and there wasn’t a chance he was recovered by now. He was, however, allowed to roam around the ship as he pleased. Meaning he just went back to his room anyway and started playing his music. What else was there to do, he couldn’t even drink.

            As the music sounded, starting to actually calm him for the first time in months, he laid back on his bed and closed his eyes. He was about to doze off completely when he heard loud laughter come from down the hall. He raised a brow curiously and tried to listen to it, but it was muffled between several layers of metal.

            It took a minute before curiosity got the better of him and he peeked out the door, hearing that laugh again. It was definitely Thor and a bit quieter was Mantis. Peter stepped down the hall and got to their sort of kitchen area before raising a brow. There were cards all over the table in an arrangement he had never seen before and Thor was seemingly explaining the rules still. Around the table sat Mantis, Nebula, and Groot as they all held up cards.

            When peter was noticed, Thor lit up and patted the empty seat next to himself. “Peter! Come join us! We’re playing Atte Armer To Hoder.” He stated. Peter moved to sit next to him, confused look on his face as he grabbed a few cards. It had been a while since he managed to actually relax with a game like this with his friends, even if usually they got themselves shitfaced during it.


	4. Dance With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor's depressed, Peter dances when he's in a funk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter because I'm definitely not putting off my final.

            Not every day was a good day for Thor. Sure, he’d integrated into the crew and had immediately set to work on kicking his bad habits to the curb, but there was only so long he could keep up his positive energy before needing to take breaks.

            Between his constant work and drinking, Peter never really noticed how much the entire dynamic of the crew shifted when the big blonde god was down in the dumps.

            It had been a few days now and Peter was out and about the ship, grabbing his own food, checking on Rocket or Nebula as he definitely didn’t hope they’d offer to let him take over. Instead of that, he usually got one of them shooing him out to go do something else. The thing was though, there wasn’t much else to do. He had only hesitantly started to play his music again and without Thor around he didn’t have many options for entertainment.

            Rocket was the one currently behind the controls, endless space in front of him as they flew to wherever. They were a lot less organized nowadays. They kept busy with odd jobs for so long to distract from Gamora that they were almost stuck in it. Some Guardians they were, selfishly sitting here doing nothing to help all the communities and planets still trying to cope with the changes from the snap. They had run into Carol at one point, though not as dramatically as they had run into Thor, but it was still surprising. She had talked about wanting to help people together, communities, societies, entire planets. They had initially refused, explaining that they needed more time to get back into the swing of things. She left them her contact, but that was months ago now.

            Peter sighed at the thought, stepping out of his room to scope things out. Groot was sat at the table, forgoing his game system for a book instead. He wondered who the hell convinced him to do that, making a note to thank them later. Drax was next to him, playing with the discarded game system as best he could.

            Moving on to the next room was Nebula and Mantis sitting on a couch together, seeming to be unwinding. The smaller girl was trying to teach her girlfriend how to knit, despite messing up several times herself. Nebula was nowhere near getting it, but humoring her nonetheless.

            It was quiet. In bouts of unending ruckus from his crew, all Quill wanted was this. But at this point, he had gotten rather used to the loud Asgardian man cracking a joke and yelling about something or other. It was eerie how quiet even his room was.

            It was Peter’s turn to play nurse now. He stepped up carefully to Thor’s room, hesitating a minute before knocking at the door. No answer. He knocked a bit louder. Still nothing. He rolled his eyes, well the other had no care for privacy when it came to Peter.

            Without an invitation, Peter opened the door, careful and quiet in case the other was asleep. Thor though, in fact, was not asleep. Instead, he was laying on his bed, blonde locks framing his head as he stared up at the ceiling, not even bothering to acknowledge the new company.

            There was only a bit of regret as Peter slid into the room more, letting the door shut behind himself. It was dark but not pitch black, the clouds of gas and light outside the window illuminating the room enough to see.

            “I’ve never seen you so happy.” Peter joked, never being one to do well with feelings, knowing this was going to be something about that.

            “I have never seen you so caring of my well being.” Thor retorted, eyes flicking down at the other a second before returning to the same space on the ceiling.

            A bit of a cringe on Peter’s part and he moved to awkwardly sit at the foot of the bed. He tried to think of something, anything, that anyone in his life would have said to him at this situation. His mother, Gamora, Yon- Okay maybe not Yondu. Instead of soothing, intelligent words, peter reached out to pat the other’s knee firmly, “You seem to like talking.”

            At that, a blonde brow raised, eyes flicking down again but this time staying. Peter realized he didn’t say that right and held up his hands defensively. “Like feelings. And stuff.” He rolled his eyes; this was both dumb and harder than he thought it’d be. “I’m saying if you need to talk, then you should.”

            It felt like too long, eyes just staring into each other before Thor’s were cast away as he moved to sit up on the bed. “And if I am not in the mood for talking?”

            Fuck. Peter was kind of, more or less, banking on that. He shrugged, finding the proper words but again he managed something stupid. “When aren’t you?” The blank expression Thor gave in response was enough to show how well Peter was at cheering the other up. “Shit. I mean…” He trailed off before remembering how the other had tried to comfort him. God, this was going to be awkward.

            Sliding up a bit, Quill sat in front of Thor, getting onto his knees so that he could actually do this a bit less awkwardly. The other seemed very confused by the action but didn’t really move. That’s when the redhead reached out, wrapping his arms around the other’s shoulders, and pulled him into an admittedly awkward hug.

            After a few minutes went by, Peter wasn’t sure if he should let go or if this was helping at all. He moved to pull back when he heard chuckling against his chest. He looked down, only seeing blonde locks, but the other’s arms quickly moved to wrap around him to return the hug.

            Pros, Thor returned the hug and had even laughed. Cons, god this was embarrassing, and he hated it more and more as time ticked on. But this was for the other to feel better, so he endured.

            It was a few minutes before Thor finally pulled back and Peter thanked the gods that he could put his back in a better position because it was starting to hurt.

            “You are awful at comfort.” Thor pointed out, but his hand reached out, placing it on Peter’s hand which was on his own thigh, only inches away from Thor’s own. “But, I suppose you are quite funny.”

            Peter pulled his hand away, arms crossing over his chest. He thanked the light coming from outside for being blue because it hid the dusting of red across his cheeks. “Yeah, yeah.” He took a second before looking back at the other. “Do you feel better?”

            “Not by much.” Thor replied simply, slumping back a bit.

            Okay, talking was likely not going to happen, physical comfort didn’t seem to be helping, so Peter pulled out another trick from his sleeve. Or in this case, his pocket. Peter slid out the Zune, unraveling the headphones and put one in his ear, offering over the other. Thor took it curiously and put it in his own ear.

            It was then that an upbeat song started to play. It was such a juxtaposition to have ‘Hit Me With Your Best Shot’ playing in one ear, while in the dark room sat the two men and a thick fog of negative emotions surrounding Thor. In fact, the contrast only seemed to make the god’s lips turn up in a smile before it slid into another chuckle. Peter joined in with him, moving to sit with his legs crossed instead.

            It wasn’t until Peter started bobbing to the song and singing along that Thor’s entire mood seemed to shift completely. By the time the next song turned on, Peter moved off the bed, grabbing Thor’s hand to pull him up too. At first, Thor wasn’t completely sure what he wanted but then Peter started to move his feet and dance. It was a bit awkward since the two couldn’t really have too much space, both in the confines of the room as well as the short headphone cord connecting them, but he was obviously encouraging the other to move too.

            The steps were awkward, music unfamiliar, space small, but Thor tried his best to follow the movements of the other through the whole song. And then the next. And the next. Before he knew it, he was completely unsure what he was upset about in the first place. This was a far better way to get his spirits back up than he thought it’d be.

            The next song to come on was far slower than the rest. Peter was quick to realize it’d be awkward to try and dance to this and grabbed the Zune from his pocket. He fumbled a bit, trying to click to the next song, but Thor’s hand came up, grabbing the one still gripping the music device. His other came around to Peter’s hip and he started dancing like that without care.

            The slightly smaller of the two sputtered, but his spare hand came up to hold Thor’s forearm carefully, not willing to go all the way up to his shoulder. Green eyes refused to look up, instead favoring the chest in front of himself. It was hard to think of this situation, in its entirety, as anything but awkward, but the god seemed to have no problem or hesitance toward it. How was he so calm? Peter stuck with the thoughts of both wanting to song to end and hoping it would keep going.

            “In this light, you look very pretty.” Peter heard the other say, almost a whisper. Far too intimate.

            The redhead didn’t appreciate the word choice though and moved his hand from his forearm to the other’s chest with a scowl. “ _Don’t_ call me that.” He tried to push away but the other’s strength when he wasn’t even trying was impressive and unmovable to the half-human.

            “Forgive me.” Thor said and when Peter’s eyes looked back up in the soft blue glow, it almost seemed like the other was panicked. The god’s grip loosened in case Peter wanted to actually pull away, “I forget how some words are different to certain midgardians. You are very _handsome_.” His brows were still furrowed, not sure if he fixed the situation or not.

            Peter relaxed a bit at that before the meaning of the words actually reached his face. The song finished up and he finally pulled away, tugging the earbuds out of both of their ears before turning the Zune off. He wanted to just leave, mostly out of embarrassment, but instead figured he should make sure the other was still okay. “Thanks…” He managed to get out.

            Chancing a glance again showed that Thor still looked worried about what he said. It only managed to frustrate Peter further. “Stop looking at me like I kicked your puppy. I’m not mad at you.” He honestly wasn’t sure what he was feeling. It wasn’t every day he slow danced with a god with nothing but nebulas lighting the room and then getting called any form of attractive. “Look, I’ve gotta go help… Mantis. With some knitting or whatever.” He pointed out, “I hope this made you feel better at least.”

            With that, Peter turned to head out the door, only for his hand to be caught. He turned around again, this time Thor’s face was a lot calmer, small smile on his lips that was still a far cry from his usual grin. “Thank you.” He then let go and Peter all but bolted out the door.

 

            The rest of the day was far calmer. Thor actually left his room, laughing with everyone and even at one point holding the yarn for the two girls who were trying their hardest to make scarves. It was nice to see at least something that Peter had tried had worked, even if it left him in his own room for an hour or two while he questioned everything that just happened. He plugged in his Zune and got to work distracting himself from the mess opening that can of worms was going to be.

            Peter had just slid back out of his room and gone to check on Rocket at the front of the ship when the call came on. It took only a second to realize who it was, Carol. He didn’t know her well, but enough so that he could recognize the glowing woman on the screen in front of the raccoon.

            “Rocket. Star-Lord.” Captain Marvel greeted the two, causing the pilot to look back and see Quill before going back to his controls. “I need some backup in star system Alpha Theda 50016, on planet Tuscarr. The society is in complete shambles, and I need all the help I can get.”

            It wasn’t even a decision at this point, there was no way they’d turn her of all people down. But if it was Carol of all people asking for help, it’d be dangerous. He was barely recovered from his wound already. But it was the right thing, and losing himself in mindlessly flying around the galaxy wasn’t good for any of them. They could do good.

            “There any money in it?” Rocket asked, likely more to save face than with a thought of turning it down if there wasn’t.

            Carol looked unamused but nodded, “You will be compensated for your work.”

            “We’ll do it.” Peter cut in. He was still the captain after all, pain in his side or no, he got to call the shots.

            Carol gave a small smile at that, nodding, “I’ll send you the coordinates.”

            The monitor turned off and Peter turned to head back to the others. “Guys! Get ready! We’ve got a job!”


	5. Follow Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go /mostly/ according to plan.

            It wasn’t the first time Peter had seen the battlefield of a war, but it was rarely this close. Getting involved in things like this just wasn’t what they do.

            After the ship touched down, the entire crew slid out to meet Carol, excited for their assignment, but the mood was quickly snuffed out upon seeing all the medical tents behind her. She explained that there was a civil war on the planet, a direct result from the snap bringing everyone back. It was hard to believe that having your loved ones back would cause fighting like this, but here it was. Carol explained that it was due to lack of food and resources. That part made sense.

            The seven passed by tent after tent, taking a glance inside as they went since the flaps were open. It was exactly as expected. He watched as Mantis gripped at Nebula’s hand harder upon seeing a child on a bed in one of those tents. Once they all got to what seemed to be Carol’s tent, they all slid in, barely fitting in the small space.

            They went over the plan. Protect the citizens, make distractions while Carol sought out the leader of the other side, don’t get yourself killed. They divided the group up into two teams. One would stay behind and help the medical staff and the other would go and fight with the rest. Of course, those who stayed were Mantis and Groot, while everyone else was going. It was then that all eyes were on Peter. It only took a second to realize what they were thinking.

            “I’m _going_.” The redhead protested, all but glaring at his concerned crew.

            “You are still healing.” Mantis pointed out.

            “It doesn’t even hurt anymore.” Peter retorted, only slightly a lie.

            “During the last fight, you were shot.” Drax chimed in.

            “Accidents happen.”

            “I am Groot.” Groot added.

            “Yeah, what he said.” Rocket piped up.

            “ _Groot_.” Peter scolded.

            “This is ridiculous.” Nebula sighed.

            “I know!”

            “If Quill wants to go, we should allow him to go.” Thor finally spoke up.

            “No, I’m going no matter what you say-“ Peter cut himself off, realizing the other wasn’t arguing. He looked up before slowly nodding. “Right. Yeah, exactly.”

            “If you all are done arguing,” Carol crossed her arms, “we have _real_ fighting to do.”

            The seven looked between each other and nodded, some arms crossing in the meantime.

            “If you get shot again, I ain’t draggin’ your body back here.” Rocket jumped off the box he was standing on as they all started heading out.

            “Ditto.” Peter retorted, checking his weapons over as they got ready to split up.

            “You better come back in the same number of pieces I see you in now.” Mantis pointed out, grabbing onto her partner’s hands.

            “And how many is that?” Nebula brushed her thumbs against the knuckles of Mantis’ hands.

            “Just the one, my love.” The two leaned in to give a brief kiss.

            Peter fake-gagged at them. “All this sweet is going to make me sick.”

            “Do you want another hole in your chest?” Nebula asked, stepping away from Mantis and Groot to return to her group.

 

            Having a bit of humor before the fight was as necessary as it could be. What waited for them was a mess. It wasn’t organized, it was almost a slaughter of everyday civilians. Once Carol headed off, it was finally their jobs to save anyone they could and push back the army to keep them from causing any more damage.

            Peter slid behind a crumbled building, blaster in hand as he took a lookout. He flinched when he heard someone behind him and quickly whipped his blaster around, pointing it at his new company. He frowned, glaring when he realized it was just Thor.

            “Are you following me?” He whispered, moving to look back around the corner.

            “Why would you think that?” Thor asked innocently, looking around the other corner.

            “Probably because I’ve seen you tailing me ever since we got out here.” Peter huffed lightly, moving to slide around the corner and Thor quickly moved to follow after.

            Thor gave a chuckle, “So I have been caught it se-“ He was quickly cut off with a hand over his mouth, The blonde looked over, noting they were close to a few soldiers. Both men gripped their blasters, ready to spring out and take them by surprise when a fourth soldier appeared, pulling a small child by the hair. Now the two Guardians tensed up, both trying to calculate exactly what to do.

            A hand moved to Peter’s shoulder as Thor stood up, moving out of their hiding place to the line of sight of the enemy. The redhead’s eyes widened and he cursed, not knowing what the god was doing, but figured it was a distraction. He slid back and moved around the building as he heard talking.

            “Gentlemen! Good evening!” Came the sing-song voice of the blonde. “Many apologies, I’ve become rather lost.”

            Peter rolled his eyes a bit at the distraction and found a better vantage point, very close to the child. If the soldiers weren’t all looking at Thor then he’d easily be spotted. Luckily in the confusion, the solider had let go of the child’s hair and she was trembling. Her eyes flicked up quickly when she saw Peter though.

            Holding a finger up to his lips, he curled his fingers in a ‘come here’ motion. She looked a bit confused at first but complied, much rather going with him than the man who pulled her by the hair. Once Peter had her secure, he picked her up and as quietly as he could, found a safe hiding place for her.

            “I’ll be back, okay?” He whispered, putting a finger back up to his lips, “But you have to be quiet no matter what. Promise?”

            She seemed to understand, quietly nodding her head and gripping her stuffed animal tighter. It became clear right after moving back from the hiding spot that the distraction was quickly wearing off as he heard shouting and then the sound of several blasters firing.

            Peter hissed, heading back over, not bothering to sneak as he headed back. It didn’t take long, it was a small group and Thor was good at fighting both with a blaster and his own hands or axe.

            It took only a few minutes to completely take out the small group and Thor moved back to join him. It became clear quickly though that something was wrong.

            The god tried to hide it, but there was an unmistakable patch of red growing on his leg. Peter frowned, moving to grab said leg to look it over. “Are you kidding?” He grumbled, glancing around before pulling the blonde back behind cover. They’d have to make this quick since they still had a small child to bring back. He pulled the first aid kit from around his waste and dug in to find a bandage to stop the bleeding.

            “It is alright.” Thor tried to assure the other. “I can walk fine. It was only a graze.”

            Although Thor was right, Peter still rolled his eyes and moved to bandage it up to stop the blood or it could get worse. “If you weren’t an idiot and jumped out there, this wouldn’t have happened.” Peter snapped, pulling the bandages a bit too tight which only resulted in a hiss from the taller man. He backtracked, starting to work a bit more gently.

            “You saved the child, what does it matter?” The blonde insisted, watching as the other finished up with the bandage.

            Instead of arguing about that, Peter simply stood. “When we get back, I’m making sure you take care of your leg.”

            A nod is all the response that Peter got and needed. The two headed back over to collect the child from the bushes before having no choice but to keep pushing on with her in tow. It wasn’t too hard to push back and keep the child safe especially since there were two of them and tons of hiding places. They were all waiting for Carol to finish up her part of the mission before they could all fall back.

            By the time that came around, it was already starting to get dark and the child was falling asleep on Peter’s shoulder in their hiding place. He glanced at the other’s leg a few times to make sure it was doing alright, but every time he tried to touch it, Thor would push his hands away and assure him that everything was fine. Peter didn’t believe it for a second but didn’t push the issue either since there really wasn’t much they could do out here.

            When the two saw the familiar golden streak across the sky, they took it as a sign to finally fall back. It took a bit longer, both lugging around a sleeping toddler through a field full of her newly-destroyed town, as well as a slightly limping god, getting around wasn’t as much of a breeze as he thought it’d be.

            Eventually, everyone made it back, mostly in one piece. Rocket had a lot of new shiny things, Drax and Nebula were already relaxing, and he couldn’t even find Groot and Mantis since they were likely looking after the sick and injured among the mess.

            Without explanation, Peter passed the small child off to Nebula, asking her to have Mantis check her over, before heading to an unused tent to treat Thor himself. Everyone else seemed to be busy and if it really was just a graze then taking any of the doctors away from their patients for something minor would be shitty.

            The two stood in the unoccupied tent, their only lighting being from the lantern next to the bed. It was clear this place wasn’t prepared for a civil war like this, let alone the fact that this planet was underdeveloped in general.

            “Okay. Let’s get you…” Peter paused, realizing the wound was on Thor’s thigh. “Out of those pants.”

            Thor tried not to show his amusement of the statement, simply following orders as he pushed down his pants and sat on the cot. “You are aware I can do this myself, right?”

            “Yeah, yeah.” Peter ignored him, moving close to look it over since the bandage went with the pants. It wasn’t completely dark outside so there was enough light to work at least. He grabbed the much bigger first aid kit and pulled it over. It wasn’t a deep wound, nothing like when Peter got shot. It was just as Thor said, a simple graze, but there was nothing light about it.

            “Dumb asshole.” Peter mumbled as he got to work cleaning it up. There were hisses above him, and after a few second, a hand came down to grip his shoulder as gently as he could during the pain.

            “I believe this makes us even.” Thor pointed out through hisses, “It seems we have both been dumb assholes now.”

            “I’m not bringing you food three times a day and watching you cry.” Peter quipped, moving on to the bandages.

            “We could dance again.” The blonde offered, his hand moving away from the other’s shoulder.

            Peter’s face dusted pink at the memory and he huffed lightly. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to teach you how to dance better.”

            Thor feigned offence, “Oh? Was my dancing not to your liking?” He chuckled lightly, watching as the other finished up the bandaging. “I am much better at traditional Asgardian dance, I assure you. Perhaps some time I could show _you_ how to dance.”

            Peter felt like that was a challenge. He gave a small glare up at the other, putting his hands on the cot on either side of the other’s thighs to try and push himself up to look taller. “I could kick your ass at your own traditional dance.” He pointed out.

            The blonde gave a small smirk, leaning a bit closer with a hum, “I would love to see you try.”

            The redhead opened his mouth to speak when the tent’s flap opened, “Quill! That Marvel chick needs you to- Woah!” Rocket’s stopped in his tracks, eyes wide as he noted the position the other two were in. Leaning close, Thor’s pants discarded on the ground, very compromising. A smirk slid onto the raccoons features as he turned back toward the opening. “I’ll let her know you’re busy.”

            Peter scrambled quickly away from the god as he realized what was being insinuated. He cleared his throat once he stood and handed over the other’s pants. “I’m going to see what she wants.” He pointed out, trying not to let his embarrassment show. He then quickly headed out of the tent as he could have sworn he heard a chuckle come from Thor behind him.

 

            The meeting with Carol was to try and figure out what to do with the man she now had in her custody. The man who started everything and could stop it too. They talked easily even with the man behind her for every second of it. He was tied up anyway and had no chance of escaping, especially with Captain Marvel in the way.

            “Do you really think he’d stop an actual war just because you ask him to?” Peter huffed, arms crossed over his chest.

            “That’s not what I was saying. There’s just more than one option here. Killing him doesn’t promise an end to this. In fact, it could make it worse. You obviously don’t know anything about war.”

            “Oh please. It can’t possibly be that hard-“ Peter was cut off by a small, but very loud voice behind himself.

            He flinched, watching the child he saved earlier run past him and Carol, “Daddy!” She yelled, grabbing onto the man. Oh. _Oh no._

            “Well fuck.” The redhead mumbled, watching the two reunite.

            “That makes things a bit harder.” Carol responded.


	6. Kiss Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor thinks now is a perfect time for a kiss, Rocket doesn't.

            With the newfound information, or in this case, child, the two agreed to drop it for the night so more consideration could go into this. For now, they were going to have to guard the man, keep the child away, and have people on shift to make sure their little encampment wasn’t disturbed. The Guardians agreed to take shifts keeping guard with the current rounds.

            First shift was Nebula and Drax while everyone else had time to sleep for a bit. The next was Peter and Thor.

            The entire crew was camped out in one of the tents. It was hard not to touch anyone, but it was the best the small camp could do for them. Staying in their ship would be a good idea, but if an emergency happened then it would be harder to get to. So here he was, his back pressed against Thor’s and Mantis’ face all but buried in his own. It reminded him a lot of being back with Yondu as a kid in the tiny sleeping quarters he shared with everyone. It was uncomfortable, hot, and hard to get sleep but that didn’t bother him as much as it could.

            The tent flap opened, and Peter glanced over, having gotten very little sleep anyway. Nebula gestured for him to swap with her and he got up easily, shoving the god’s arm as he did to wake him up too.

            No one shared words, not wanting to wake anyone else up, but all four nodded to each other as Thor woke up tiredly and swapped places as well. Nebula curled up with Mantis, who seemed to notice the new presence and tangled herself with her partner. Drax tried to make himself as small as possible as not to make the shared space feel any smaller.

            Thor followed quickly behind Peter as they went off to their post. Both were tired from fighting, but also knew the camp needed all the help it could get and didn’t mind helping out more, even if it meant sacrificing a few hours of sleep. Once the two got to their post, they both sat on a crate, keeping an eye out.

            After such an awkward previous interaction, Peter decided instead of taking the time to talk to Thor, he’d instead put his mask on so that he could use the excuse of surveying with his heat sensors. Peter had his headphones in at the same time, listening to his music, though far quieter than usual so he could hear if he needed to. Not that Thor wouldn’t hear anything if Peter didn’t. It was only a few seconds before one of Peter’s earbuds was gently tugged out and placed in Thor’s ear instead.

            The redhead looked over, trying to glare through his mask but let it go and looked out to keep on watch instead. He tried not to think about the cold, but it was creeping up more and more as the shift wore on. He eventually zipped up his jacket as far as it could go before leaning back on his arms a bit. It was only a few minutes after then that he felt warmth over his hand. Peter paused, looking over at Thor and then down at the hand now over his own, and back at Thor again. He was going to complain but the other had an odd look in his eye as he stared up at the stars. It looked almost sad, but it was hard to tell through his screen.

            Peter ended up just deactivating his mask, noting the song that was playing was one of the sadder ones. He moved to flip his hand around, grabbing at Thor’s more comfortably. This caught the Blonde’s attention, turning it back to Quill, brows still furrowed.

            It was half a minute before either of them said a word, both listening to the depressing lyrics and just staring.

            “I can change the song.” Peter finally offered, using his spare hand to maneuver over and grab his Zune so the other didn’t have to stop holding the god’s hand. Only to comfort him, of course, not because he wanted to keep holding it.

            “What will come of the man and his child?” Thor finally asked, eyes flicking away to find the dirt more interesting. “I am aware he started all this, and it should not go unpunished, but…” He trailed off, squeezing Peter’s hand a bit.

            Ah, that’s what this is about. More feelings stuff. Peter hummed lightly in thought, putting his Zune back down. “I guess it’s up to whatever Carol and I decide. She wants my input for it, but I don’t even know what to do. He destroyed an entire village. The population on this planet wasn’t even that high to begin with. If this doesn’t stop, I’m sure he’ll wipe out more than even Thanos did in the first place.” He found his own hand squeezing the other’s a bit tighter. “That girl can’t help who her father is, none of us can.”

            Thor nodded at that, closing his eyes. “Even with all my training for battle and to be King, I am lost in this situation. My father, the All-Father, tended to be far less forgiving of these situations. War is war. Making an orphan or two was never of much concern. Loki was surprisingly forgiving when it came to this sort of thing. Perhaps not at first, to impress father, but after a while they began to think on their own. They would have made a better ruler than I if the support had been there for them.”

            “Yeah, my dad turned out to be an asshole too.” Peter pointed out, “But I guess if I was a naive little kid and he was around, I wouldn’t have any clue why something terrible was happening to him.”

            “No matter the punishment, she will also be punished for her father’s crime. Even though we are not punishing her, taking her father away will be a punishment she will not understand for a long time.” The grip on Peter’s hand only tightened and he gave a frown at that.

            “It’s in Captain Marvel’s hands.” He said simply, knowing that wasn’t going to cheer Thor or himself up about it. “She’s got experience with this war shit.”

            “Perhaps we should just trust her to make the right decision.” Thor finally sighed out and his eyes moved back to Peter, and there they sat for the next few minutes. The redhead didn’t pull away or even move his hand, it was comfortable.

            That all changed when Thor moved in though. It was slow, deliberate and Peter didn’t pull away as the inches between them faded away until the blonde’s forehead pressed against Quill’s. The god’s eyes closed, a smile sliding onto his lips as a new song came on, far more romantic than the others. Someone would have to be completely dense to not realize the situation at hand.

            Peter could feel his own heart beating quickly and his hand tightened a bit around the other’s. This was far more intimate than he’d been in a while now, let alone with someone he usually regarded as just a member of his crew.

            It was about halfway through the song before mismatched eyes flicked open again, almost startling Peter at their quickness. But what startled him more was the words that seemed to easily slide from Thor’s mouth. “May I kiss you?”

            “Uh…” Was all Peter managed to force out, betting anything his face was turning as red as his jacket. But he was relaxed a bit as he noticed that Thor’s seemed to be just as bad. It took a long minute and moving his face away from the blonde’s so his eyes could finally look away in thought before he managed out an answer. “Okay.” It was weak in his embarrassment but at least he managed to force it out.

            A warm hand slid onto his cheek which got his eyes to meet Thor’s once again. His thumb rubbed gentle circles just under his cheekbone before the blonde leaned in again. Their lips brushed gently together for what felt like too long before pressing together in the gentlest kiss Peter had ever received. His breath hitched a bit and eyes closed, trying to focus on it. It didn’t matter what kind of exploits Peter had in the entirety of the galaxy, none compared to being kissed like something precious.

            “Oh, come on, I can barely deal with one couple bein’ all mushy all day. Now I’ve got another?”

            Peter’s eyes flew open and he shoved himself away from Thor only to look over and see Rocket with another smirk on his face and Groot with round eyes. Perfect.

            “What the fuck are you doing here?” Peter asked, moving to stand up to pull himself as far away from Thor as he could.

            “ _I_ am Groot.” The Flora Colossus pointed out, still in awe of what he saw.

            Rocket snorted and moved to climb up on the crate. “It’s our shift, dumbass. You know, to keep watch, like you were supposed to do instead of making out with your boyfriend.” The raccoon plopped down.

            “Forgive me, it was my fault for distracting him.” Thor pointed out, giving a timid smile.

            “We didn’t- He’s not- I-“ Peter sputtered, trying to find a way to save the situation but knew he was only making it worse. Instead of sit here and try and explain it though, he groaned and stomped off back to their tent. Thor followed quickly after. The redhead stopped at the tent though, realizing that if they went inside and went to bed, he’d have to lay there for the rest of the night pressed up against the guy who just kissed him.

            “Quill? Is something wrong?” Thor asked, keeping his voice hushed so he didn’t wake anyone. “If it is about the-“

            “No.” Peter cut him off, his voice a bit harsh. He had things to think about it seemed because he had no real answer to if he was upset about the kiss or not. He pressed a hand to his own forehead, sighing. “I need to go talk to the Captain is all.”

            Both knew that wasn’t true and anything Peter had to say could easily wait until morning, but calling out his lie would do more harm than good. “Okay.” Thor replied simply, a hesitation in his voice like he wanted to say more but didn’t. Instead he gently placed a hand on the other’s back in a light pat before sliding into the tent with a mumbled ‘goodnight’.

            It took a few seconds for Peter to clear his head enough to decide what to do. He knew Carol was going to still be up, guarding their prisoner, so actually going to talk to her wouldn’t be the worst thing. After shifting his feet a few times, he finally turned and headed to where they were keeping the prisoner.

            When he arrived, Carol looked stressed and tired, obviously having not come to a decision with what to do. When she saw him though she relaxed a bit, running her fingers through her own hair likely out of stress.

            “What are you doing here? Patrol?” She asked simply, arms crossing over her chest.

            “Nah, just couldn’t sleep.” He half-lied, shrugging.

            “Good, because he’s been asking to see you when you wake up.” Carol gestured to the tied-up man who continued to stare between the two heroes in front of him.

 

            The exchange lasted the entirety of the rest of the night as Captain Marvel and Peter talked with the man, the General, as he was referred. He thanked Peter for saving his daughter, noting that he sent his men out to find her but they were never supposed to hurt her. He didn’t have an answer for the question ‘it’s not okay to hurt her, but the rest of the civilians are fine?’

            By the time the two suns were peeking over the hills, the three were exhausted by the talk and all parties were frustrated for their own reasons. Peter was a bit sick of this grey-morality Thanos bullshit. It had the purple man’s stink all over. It wouldn’t surprise him if this civil war never happened if Thanos hadn’t snapped people out of existence.

            Carol was at even more of a loss as to what to do and explained she’d be sleeping and then talking to the civilizations elders once she was done so they could come up with a better plan. The fighting around hadn’t stopped, but it didn’t seem to be nearly as much with their leader gone.

            The general couldn’t understand why no one saw things from his point of view, trying to explain he was making a better future for his daughter got a boot to his stomach.

            Peter ended up having to just head back to his tent, still pissed off and confused about the entire night. Once he got back to the sleeping area, he squeezed into the space he could and pressed a pillow over his face, trying to calm himself down.

            A hand gently slid onto his shoulder though and he relaxed a bit, moving the pillow to see Mantis staring at him, concerned. He took a breath and moved his hand on top of hers as her antennae started to glow and he shook his head at her to remind her not to use her powers. She dipped her head in apology and moved to wrap her arms around his chest instead in comfort. Peter moved to gently pet her hair before he glanced over to see Thor was awake and looked concerned as well. A small snort left the redhead’s lips as he gestured for the other to ‘bring it in’ too. He then had two pairs of arms wrapped around his chest and two hands were deployed to play with their hair in reassurance. It wasn’t long before he ended up falling asleep like that, fingers still tangled in dark brown and golden blonde hair.


	7. Stay With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Guardians get paid for their service and decide to go clubbing. Peter is jealous, Thor is jealous, Peter tries to fix that.

            Once Carol had her meeting with the elders, there wasn’t much that could be said on the matter. Of course, Peter had given his input before she had gone, but he wasn’t exactly the most well versed in the art of punishing a war criminal. When she came back, she explained that the punishment would be traditional among the people without resulting in the criminal’s death. He’d be separated from his child though, being sent off to be raised by an elder’s family for the foreseeable future. It felt vague, it didn’t feel harsh enough, but that wasn’t the end of things.

            Although the army had lost quite a few members with the capture of their leader, that didn’t stop most of them from still ravishing the small population that inhabited the planet. The good thing was that their technology was nowhere near as advanced as the guardians’ had been so dissipating the last of the army took a few days, but with the help of their own army and Captain Marvel, it wasn’t much of a fight since the other side _was_ sans leader.

            What took up most of the time was Mantis, Groot, and more recently Nebula’s job of taking care of the sick and injured. As the fight wore on, the number of civilians injured only grew. Peter was just glad this was only lasting a few days; he couldn’t even imagine being thrown into war situations like this for years. He had a large and newfound respect for Carol.

            It occurred to him sometime along the few days that this is what Carol was talking about wanting help with, that there were more planets like this one, and they could help, _should_ help. Her offer still stood to work together, that much was obvious. She talked about needing the help, what it’d entail, that after a few missions for training, she guardians would be going out and helping clean everything up without her. It felt like such an obvious choice, especially for someone leading a group called the Guardians of the Galaxy, but it wasn’t. He noted his crew, how tired they were, both mentally and physically, how Mantis had not gotten used to the constant and heavy mist of negative emotions but refused to take breaks so she could help. Even Drax was being worn out.

            Carol let him know that there would be breaks in between helping, and until the team got used to the new lifestyle, she’d only send them on low-risk missions such as this one. It helped, but he didn’t feel comfortable making a decision right now. It’d be better to ask everyone what they wanted to do rather than just make the choice for them. Though, he supposed he already knew their answers. And, with the large amount of credits Carol had given them at the end of this job, he knew Rocket’s as well.

            “Holy shit lady! You sure know how to make a deal worth it!” Rocket said in awe, almost looking like a dog with a new bone as he stared at what felt like an endless supply of credits.

            “I have more than I need.” Carol said simply, shrugging, “People are always eager to show thanks to a savior, no matter how much I refuse. That should feed your crew for at least a few weeks.”

            Rocket and Peter shared a glance to each other, both very aware that most of this was not going to be spent on food. Both had been itching for a mini ‘vacation’ for weeks now, especially since Thor decided to take it upon himself to make sure to hide the booze. A smirk slid onto the raccoon’s features even as they said their goodbyes.

 

            Unlike one of the last times a big pay caused an impromptu alien club trip, Thor and Mantis caught wind of the plans to go and made sure to force them to set aside money for supplies for later. There was a lot of grumbling for Rocket, who clearly just wanted to spend the entirety of the money on drinks and gambling, but at least someone had to watch out for the crew. Peter supposed it was meant to be him, but drinks and pretty girls were pretty high up on his priority right now. Plus, they had a successful and stressful mission, a celebration of the highest caliber was in order.

            As expected, everyone aside from Drax and Groot had made their way to the bar. Drax explained he had something to work on, which was a bit suspicious, but Peter wasn’t going to worry about it. Groot had wanted to go, but as he was still a young Flora Colossus, there was no way Rocket was letting him go into the club even if the guards had let the teen tree. Giving a huff and a very sarcastic sounding ‘I am Groot’, he went back to the book that Peter had learned that Nebula gave him. Quill was very surprised to learn that not only did Nebula read regularly with Mantis, but her favorite genre was romance. He’d remember that for blackmail.

            Immediately after stepping into the club, the five teammates split up, well at least mostly. Nebula and Mantis stuck together like glue, heading off to likely find a more secluded area since the blue girl was never too crazy about being around people, let alone a bunch of drunk idiots.

            Rocket slunk off to go to the table that was currently sporting a game of some form of space poker. Peter didn’t doubt the raccoon would either end up with a bag of loot or a black eye for being caught cheating by the end of the night, but one was bound to happen.

            Thor, surprisingly, headed off on his own. Peter was almost sure the big oaf would try to stick to him like a lost puppy, but he was wrong. And definitely not disappointed. Not that his plans changed at all with being alone, it was easier to flirt and get drunk without a god looming over your shoulder anyway.

            Peter slid up to the bar, taking a seat at it before beginning his adventure for the night. Brightly colored liquid sat in glasses in front of him for minimal amounts of time before they were quickly downed. He barely spoke the language here so every time he was asked for what drink he wanted, he simply shrugged with a ‘surprise me’. Some were sickeningly sweet, some were painful and barely got down, there were even some that had the consistency of slime but felt like they packed the hardest punch.

            It wasn’t long before a pretty, red girl slid up next to him and he was ordering her drinks as they talked. It was mindless, as usual, but they both wanted the same thing so dancing around each other’s words was easy.

            During the conversation, Peter’s eyes drifted away, mostly to gauge how Rocket was doing at the weird space poker ring. He already had an ever-growing pile of credits and several pissed looking men at the table. A small smile slid onto his features and he was about to look back at his flirty date when something else caught his eye. The smile fell instantly off his face when he noticed Thor with a woman who had her hands on his chest and was giving him an obvious smile. The god had his hand around her waist and was chuckling at something she said. They were too close for Peter’s liking, and he’d have at least tried to figure out why if he was a little less drunk and pissed.

            Without self-restraint or thinking about his own date’s feelings, Peter wordlessly got up and all but marched over to where the blonde was standing and flirting.

            “-quite the proposal, my dear.” Peter could finally hear the conversation Thor and his date were having.

            “If you’d like we could discuss this in my room.” The girl stated, her finger running up the god’s chest and he chuckled in response. It was then that Thor felt a tight grip on his arm.

            Peter watched as the other turned to look at him, seeming obviously surprised. “We’re going.” Was all he managed to think of to say, tugging at the arm.

            “Is something wrong?” Thor retracted his hand from the girl in front of him to turn instead to Peter. The redhead wasn’t about to admit that he much preferred the other paying attention to him. “Would you like me to call Mantis and Nebula over to walk you back to the ship?”

            The fact that Thor hadn’t volunteered himself to take him back to the ship pissed him off, his grip tightening, not that it could do anything to harm the superpowered idiot in front of him. It was started to become clear even to Peter why he hated the other so much when he drank.

            “ _We’re_ going.” Peter repeated; a glare being shot toward the slightly taller of the two. The other’s glance went between Quill and his date who had her arms crossed over her chest now, obviously not happy about being ignored.

            It was a few more seconds before Thor pulled his arm from Peter’s grip only to then move and grab his hand instead. He then turned his attention to the woman, “I am very sorry, my dear, but it seems I have gained plans. I wish you luck in your endeavor.” He commented before moving to gently tug Peter back to the ship. Once they were outside, he gave Peter a sideways glance, a small smirk sliding onto his own lips. “I am sorry to have made you jealous.”

            Peter sputtered, gripping at the other’s hand tighter, “I’m _not_ jealous.” He insisted, quickening his pace.

            “Truly?” The king asked with a hum, as if responding to the obvious lie of a toddler. “Then why was it that we needed to go back so early?”

            Thinking of a quick lie, which turned out to be half true, he quickly shot back, “I don’t feel good.”

            “And Nebula and Mantis could not take you?” Thor hummed, amusement becoming evident on his face.

            “They’re on a date.”

            “Rabbit?”

            “Getting us more cash.”

            Thor simply responded with a chuckle at that, it felt thought out, but he knew it wasn’t.

            “What of your date?” The blonde finally asked.

            Oh, right. Peter honestly forgot about her. He should probably lie. “Didn’t want to fuck her.” Oops, that was mostly true. He put his free hand to his forehead. Why was lying hard when you’re drunk.

            “That did not seem to be true by the way you were flirting.” Thor pointed out, not looking at him. Peter looked up anyway, brows moving up in surprise. There was no way that was Thor being jealous. Wait, did that mean the other was _trying_ to make him jealous in return? “I am sure you were one line away from retiring to her room.” Oh yes, that sounded jealous.

            The two paused just outside the ship, “Would you of stopped me?” Peter found himself asking, genuinely curious but mostly wanting to see the other’s reaction.

            Thor turned to the redhead, glancing him up and down a minute before sighing, “It would not be my place to stop you from making your own choices.” He said simply, but that didn’t seem to make Peter happy. In fact, that shorter let go of Thor’s hand and all but stomped back into the ship, ignoring the surprised ‘I am Groot’ upon seeing him back so early.

            The blonde followed quickly after the other, noting that he had, somehow, said the wrong thing and pissed off the easily provoked drunk Peter. “Quill.” He said as he followed, though the other didn’t turn around, “Peter.” Finally, the captain turned around, glaring and standing just in front of his door. With all the strength he could possibly muster, which was surprisingly enough, he kicked his door open and dragged the god in with him.

            Before Thor could so much as give a surprised gasp, he was shoved up against the now-closed door and Peter leaned in, not-so-gently shoving his lips against the other’s and pinning him as best he could. With effort, the blonde could easily break the hold, but he was a bit busy being surprised by the events unfolding in front of him to even think what he wanted to do.

            A knee came up to press between the god’s legs and mismatched eyes closed, trying to turn the kiss into something more gentle and passionate, rather than the demanding and harsh way Peter seemed to be adamant about. Once their mouths broke, Thor’s eyes fluttered open again, but he was yanked away from the wall before being shoved down onto the bed instead. His hands were shoved and pinned above his head with the strength he didn’t think normal humans possessed, and then Peter slid up and onto him, straddling his hips.

            “Peter-“ Thor’s mouth was covered once again by the other didn’t bother to make it soft, mostly teeth clicking together painfully and desperate attempts at taking control. It was starting to grate on the god though, as sloppy and rough was sometimes preferable, but it was starting to feel like it was all Peter really knew how to do.

            Taking only a few seconds, Thor pushed up on Peter’s hands, grabbing the other by the hips instead, and quickly flipped them over. Peter had obviously expected the same rough treatment, because when the blonde started a slow, soft kiss, the other had tried to turn it back to just rough and sloppy. Thor wasn’t having it though, one hand slid up to the redhead’s face and he cupped it gently, rubbing his thumb against the rough stubble. It didn’t take long for Quill to start melting into the kiss, almost like this was the first time he got genuine affection.

            Moving on from there, Thor’s lips moved barely lower to start pressing soft, gentle kisses down the other’s jaw. It took a few minutes of those types of kisses against Peter’s jaw and neck before hands came up to tangle in the soft golden hair. The god looked up, trying to decipher the other’s expression. It seemed a bit of confusion and curiosity at the treatment he was unused to. It wasn’t long before Peter tugged on the other’s long hair, though far more gently than anything he’d done beforehand, pulling the king up for another kiss.

            This time Peter allowed it to be as gentle as Thor deemed it should be. Slow, soft, and lasting as long as either could stand. It felt like an eternity by the time the blonde pulled away, and to Quill’s surprise, he pulled all the way away, sliding off the bed. The redhead shot up and grabbed the other’s hand quickly. The only response he got was a chuckle from the god before his hand was pulled up and gently kissed. The asshole knew he wasn’t going to break right?

            “Stay.” It was less of a plea and more of a demand as Peter tried not to irrationally hate him again.

            “I am not going anywhere; these pants are just uncomfortable to sleep in.” Thor pointed out, letting go of Peter’s hand to tug them off before sliding right back into the bed, this time under the covers. His arms slid around the captain gently, but not in any way to indicate that it was anything sexual.

            It took Peter a minute to realize Thor was expecting them to just go to bed. His brow furrowed and he frowned, “We’re not gonna-“

            “You’re drunk.” Thor replied simply, humming and closing his eyes.

            His frown deepened, “It’s not like it’ll be the first time.” He retorted.

            “I would prefer you to be able to remember our first time, Love.” Thor peeked an eye open, mostly to catch the other’s reaction at that.

            As expected, Peter stammered at the nickname and lit up like a Christmas tree. He tried to find something to throw back at him but couldn’t and instead just turned around to face the wall on the bed.

            Assuming the other was now upset, Thor moved to remove his hold on the other’s waist only for his hand to get grabbed and pulled back onto place with a grumbled, “Didn’t ask you to move it.”

            The Asgardian couldn’t help but give a soft chuckle at that, closing his eyes once again. Peter had a feeling he was going to have to actually start thinking about his feelings at some point. He wasn’t excited.


	8. Talk With Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's allergic to feelings, Mantis gushes about her girlfriend, Rocket's kinda transphobic.

            Mornings after clubbing were usually awkward in some way or another. Usually it was because he’d wake up in someone’s bed and would have to grab his clothes and hurry about before having to have an awkward exchange with last night’s bed partner. He never actually brought one onto the ship, so he’d always been the one to carefully and quietly sneak out. But he couldn’t do that, because he was in his own bed and the one behind him in it, arms wrapped around him like Peter was some kind of plush toy, was Thor. Not to mention even if he _could_ get the god’s arms from around him, he was still between the wall and the god behind him. And even if _that_ worked, they shared a ship together and would have to talk about whatever this was eventually.

            It took a while of trying to remember exactly what happened while he was drunk to realize that a) they hadn’t slept together, well in all but the literal way, and b) he was going to have to figure out why he liked waking up pressed against the insufferable blonde and what the hell that was supposed to mean. He barely remembered much of last night, but everything he _did_ remember made him want to crawl in a hole and drown. He was obviously jealous, stole Thor away from a potential fuck, and proceeded to try to _be_ that fuck. He wondered how mortified he would have been if Thor had actually let him. He was sure Thor would be just as horrified as well. God his head hurt.

            Instead of sitting around until Thor woke up though, Peter took it upon himself to figure out exactly how to get out of the other’s strong, but not death-like, grip before sliding down the bed and getting up. He looked a mess and hadn’t changed into pajamas last night. So he took it upon himself to change quickly, fixing his hair as best he could from sleep before heading out the door without so much as a second glance behind himself, as per usual with waking up next to someone.

            It was still early, at least for this planet which they had yet to leave. The only ones who seemed to be up, unsurprisingly, was Nebula and Mantis. The blue girl sat on the couch while her partner sat in front, relaxing as Nebula braided her hair carefully, something she had obviously started doing recently since it was anything but tidy.

            Big eyes flicked up to Peter and a smile slid onto Mantis’ features as she perked up. “Good morning.” She greeted and Nebula only gave a grunt as a greeting as she fought with some strands of hair that absolutely refused to stay in the braid.

            “Mornin’.” Quill mumbled and shifted on his legs. Mantis was probably the one he trusted the most with mushy feelings, since she obviously had a partner unlike anyone else on the ship, well unless you count said partner. He was definitely not at the level to ask Nebula for feelings advice though, especially since he was sure she barely had any anyway.

            Peter realized he was doing nothing but staring at his sister for far too long because Nebula simply huffed, letting go of her lover’s hair. “Out with it.” She insisted, none too happy for girlfriend morning time being interrupted.

            Giving another small shift, he shrugged as casually as he could, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I was on my way to take a walk and wanted to know if you wanted to come with.” Peter stated, obviously talking to Mantis. She perked up a bit more, but her brows furrowed, antennae twitching; it was odd for Peter to ask her to walk. She looked up at Nebula a minute who sighed lightly and cracked a small smile before pressing a kiss to Mantis’ forehead.

            “Yes.” The smaller girl stated, moving to get up and follow Peter out of the ship so they could have privacy.

 

            They walked a good ten minutes before finally coming to what seemed like a park. The grass was a faint pink, trees orange and blue. It was as obvious as it could be that this was an alien planet, but it was pretty nonetheless.

            Mantis waited patiently for Peter to speak, not wanting to scare him off of talking. It was rare for him to come to her, and she knew how much he loathed to talk about this sort of thing, which only made her severely worried because it was bad enough for him to not just stuff inside like usual. She didn’t hide her concern well, but Peter was busy making sure no one was around before sitting at an empty bench and she joined him.

            It was another few minutes before he decided to start speaking, starting with something she hadn’t expected. “How did you know you liked Nebula?” Peter glanced up at her. His head already ran through scenarios of her realizing he wanted to know because he might have some kind of feelings for Thor. He didn’t want questions but expected them, who wouldn’t have questions for something like that out of the blue?

            Instead of anything he’d been expecting, a smile slid onto the girl’s features as she hummed in thought, “It was hard to decipher my feelings for her. It is easy for me to understand your feelings, Drax’s feelings, even Nebula’s feelings at times, but when it comes to my own it is nothing but a mess.” Mantis admitted. “I started to notice that when she would compliment me or touch my arm, I would become happier, calmer. I wanted to see her smile more than anything else, more than _anyone_ else. I was nervous to say anything to her for a long time, but I wanted to be by her side and watch her to do anything, everything.” She paused with a fond smile.

“Eventually she yelled at me for it, becoming frustrated with my persistence yet hesitance to do anything. I didn’t understand why I wanted to be around her either, why I liked watching her light up, why when she would grab my hand to drag me out of danger, all I would want is to keep holding onto it. I admitted all this to her, and it was the first time I had ever heard her laugh.” Her cheeks reddened at that, hiding her face a bit, “I was confused, asking her what was so funny about what I said. She told me that it sounded like I like her. I told her that I like all my friends and she only started laughing harder!” At this point, Mantis started to chuckle at her own past self. “She told me that I was in love with her, and then it made sense.” She finished up, shaking her head.

            Peter nodded at that, glancing down at her hand a minute before looking back up, “Did you ever get jealous?” He questioned, thinking back to last night.

            Mantis hummed in thought again, “Yes and no. Again, deciphering my own feelings can be hard, but when Nebula at least pretends to be comfortable around strangers, I find my heart aching a bit. I love when she allows herself to meet new people and not want to harm them immediately, but it reminds me of how long it took for her to warm up to me.” She frowned at that, “So I suppose there is that sort of jealousy.”

            “You know she’s only comfortable like that with strangers now because you helped her get that way, right?” Peter pointed out and she nodded before perking up a bit before he could open his mouth for another question.

            “Ah, but on Nebula’s side. I would say there’s a lot of jealousy!” Mantis smiled, as if she was overjoyed with having someone jealous over her. “Every time we leave together, she asks to hold my hand and gives little grumbles when we meet someone new. It is cute. She tries her hardest not to break someone’s arm when they misunderstand my relationship with Nebula and they decide to flirt. But in times like that, I try to take her hand and reassure her before explaining the situation.”

            Peter nodded again, before becoming a bit curious, “If you two weren’t dating, but still kinda held hands and kissed and shit and you saw Nebula obviously flirting with someone, would you be upset?”

            Mantis tilted her head at that, seeming to understand where the question was coming from but tried not to show her amusement. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, “I would be very upset with her, I think. It sounds like maybe in this scenario we had not talked about what our relationship would be yet. So, she is entitled to still go around and flirt to her hearts content…” She trailed off, a type of smile Peter had never seen on Mantis’ face flashed and she hummed almost darkly, “But I assure you, her companion would not get very far.” Peter made a mental note never to piss Mantis off or do anything to hurt her girlfriend. He suddenly felt like perhaps if Nebula broke her heart, his sister wouldn’t be nearly as helpless as he thought.

            “What if you were also flirting with someone though and she only did it because she wanted to make you jealous.” Peter asked, both wanting to keep on the subject and wanting to move past Mantis’ inner darkness.

            “Why would I do that?” Mantis asked, giving a chuckle before moving to consider it more. “If I had kissed Nebula, held her hand a few times, comforted her, let her lay across my chest to comfort me… Well, I think I would be a fool to not know at least one of us was romantically interested. But without talking about the relationship, we would both be justified in trying to flirt.” She shrugged, “But if she only flirted with someone to try to make me jealous, it speaks volumes for how much interest there is in starting a relationship.” It was obvious by the added details, that Mantis knew this was about Thor, but neither said anything about it.

            There wasn’t much else he really had to ask, aside from the up front ‘do you think I’m in love with Thor’ because he was sure even Mantis wouldn’t have a specific yes or no answer to that. Even if she did, maybe it was better he figure it out on his own anyway. He paused a second before trying not to acknowledge the red creeping up his neck to his cheeks. “Uh… What about stupid pet names?”

            At that, Mantis could only chuckle, squeezing his hand again reassuringly, “I am not sure I quite understand the question, but whenever Nebula calls me something, my love, my heart, my soul, my light, I always feel my heart flutter and feel like I have fallen in love with her all over again.” She smiled, “But she mostly only does it in private because she gets embarrassed about it. When I call her similar things, her eyes light up and it makes me want to call her those over and over again just to watch her smile”

            Peter chuckles at that, shaking his head, “Alright, now that’ll make me throw up. It’s too sweet.” He teased.

            Mantis smiled back before giving a light sigh and moving to grab his other hand to hold them both and stare at him. “Your heart aches and it is still healing.  You have never been very good at talking about these things and for that, I am sorry.” He glanced up to make sure she wasn’t reading him, and she took notice, sighing, “I do not have to read you, I know you.” Her smile softened and it reminded him of his mother’s in a way, “If he makes you happy, you should give him a chance. I see the way he looks at you, for months, and the way you try not to look at him recently. I want you to be happy. Even if that happiness is not with him.”

            Peter tried not to be uncomfortable, knowing Mantis was the best with these things. He just frowned, glancing down so he didn’t have to meet her gaze as he let her in on some things. “He’s so fucking gentle. I’ve never had someone kiss me like I mean something to them.” His cheeks burned, knowing it wasn’t the manliest thing to talk about feelings. At least, if there was anything Yondu’s ship and Earth before that had taught him, it was that. “Every time he touches me, he acts like I’m going to break. Even after I shoved him against a wall and then the bed-“ He coughed at that, not wanting to go through the extent with Mantis, not that they even got far, “And he still did that shit.”

            “Do you not like it?” Mantis hummed, unphased and non-judgemental.

            Peter kicked a rock with his boot, trying and failing to come up with many good reasons to hate it. “No, I do.” He finally mumbled out, huffing, “It’s just- It’s different. This shit was always a certain way, the same way, all across the galaxy. And he comes in with his stupid soft lips, and his dumb light touch, and his fucking good cuddle positions-“ He cut himself off before he managed to embarrass himself more.

            Mantis simply chuckled at him, squeezing his hands again, “You and Nebula have so much in common.” She said simply, finally calming down from laughing. It was only a second of contemplation before she released one of his hands. Instead reaching up to play with one of the sloppy braids still in her hair. “Maybe different does not have to be bad?” Her head tilted in question.

            “Maybe…” Peter parroted, moving to get up from the bench. “We should get back before they destroy the ship without us.” Mantis chuckled at that.

 

            “I did not think you were serious.” Mantis stated, staring wide-eyed into the ship which was currently a mess and half the crew was fighting amongst each other. Thor held out Stormbreaker, Rocket had a ray gun in hand, Nebula had two blasters pointed at both, Drax sat in the corner eating popcorn, and Groot stared wide-eyed next to Drax.

            “That is _not_ for you to know, Rabbit!” Thor boomed, holding up the axe threateningly.

            “Of course it’s for me to know!” Rocket hissed back, aiming his ray gun. “I’m supposed to know everything about everyone around here!”

            “Would you both shut the fuck up!” Nebula snapped before pausing, seeing Mantis.

            Peter glanced over, noting that she was obviously getting overwhelmed by the blanket of emotions going on in the ship.

            “Trust me I would’ve checked for myself if that isn’t a creepy thing to do!” Rocket ignored the blue woman, he was trying to look tall, standing up on the table.

            “And asking someone else about it _isn’t?_ ” Thor shot back, taking a step closer.

            “What the fuck is going on!” Peter ordered, stepping into the ship and finally between the two fighting so Nebula didn’t have to keep playing peacemaker.

            Everyone quieted, weapons lowering as they did. Peter looked between the three in the middle of the room, urging one of them to give him some kind of explanation. Instead, all three lowered their heads like children caught fighting over who’s turn it was to play the Xbox.

            “They were fighting about you being a girl.” Drax finally pipped in and Peter froze.

            The freezing lasted only a few seconds before his head whipped around from Thor, to Nebula, before landing on Rocket. It started to become clear what was going on.

            “Cool, fights over, I’m a man. Congrats. The galaxy’s dumbest fucking argument is now over.” Peter spat and went to turn away before the raccoon finally spoke up.

            “That’s not what your exes say.” Rocket stood firm; ray gun still clutched tightly in his paw.

            “You believe my exes over me?” Peter huffed at that, stepping over to the raccoon.

            “That’s why I asked your new boytoy over there.” Rocket pointed to Thor, “I watched him leave your room, obviously that means somethin’.”

            “Even if Quill does have the parts that you say he does, which may I remind you, is _not your fucking business_ , that does not a woman make.” Thor threw back, glaring.

            “Yes, it does!” Rocket tried to argue, but no one was behind his back on this, glares coming from all around the room. The raccoon hissed at them, shoving his ray gun in its holster.

            It seemed everyone was fed up by this conversation by this point because they were all just staring around at each other, not exactly sure what to do. Peter was more self-conscious than ever, and no one seemed to know exactly what to do.

            That is, until the god stepped forward and put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “We are going to Earth.” He said simply. “And _you_ are going to understand.” He stated at Rocket before grabbing Peter’s hand to pull him toward the controls. Well they had time to kill before they had to decide if they were taking Carol’s next mission anyway. Not that Peter was excited to go back to Earth, not even having stayed after the big war. But he felt like arguing with Thor over this would be useless.


	9. Earth Isn't My Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone's a little frustrated at Rocket, Thor thinks about Loki, the crew touch down on Earth, and Thor's here to cuddle.  
> TW: F*g slur

            It had been an hour, maybe two, since the ship lifted off of the planet, all the fun everyone was having suddenly vanishing. Nebula was busy trying to calm Mantis whose antennae having drooped with the tense and sour mood of the ship. Groot had decided it best to go back to his room so that he didn’t have to deal with whatever this was meant to be. Drax was confused by the whole exchange, sitting next to a brooding Rocket at the kitchen table, not a word stated between the two.

            The air was the most tense in the cockpit, however. Peter sat at the wheel, trying to calm himself down from the exchange still. This could have all been avoided if Rocket would have just talked to him about it. In private, where the entire crew didn’t have to now question and concern themselves with what was in Quill’s pants. Not that anyone really did. He heard the exchange from the other room earlier, starting with Mantis.

_“Peter is my brother.” She insisted._

_“He said that he was a man.” Drax added, likely still in his corner._

_“That doesn’t mean he is.” Rocket tried to retort._

_“I am GROOT.” The wooden boy grumbled, trying to show his utter disinterest in his guardian’s argument. There was then the sound of his footsteps heading out to the hall where the rooms were, likely Groot slipping off to shut himself in his room._

_“I couldn’t possibly care less about this conversation.” Nebula grumbled as well, earning a soft sigh from her girlfriend._

_Peter shut the cockpit door, something that was usually pretty rare, but he didn’t want to hear the rest of this conversation before they took off._

            Thor had barely moved from his spot, helping a bit with coordinates before falling into a silent slump. He looked even worse than when Peter visited him in his room to get him out of his depression. It couldn’t have possibly just been on Peter’s behalf.

            Eventually, the music in Peter’s ear stopped helping and he just shut off his Zune, shoving it back into his pocket.

            “What’s eating you, big guy?” The redhead finally tried to engage, but the blonde didn’t even look up, seeming deep in thought. “Thor.” He tried again but continued to get no answer. He carefully turned his seat towards Thor’s and slid down in it, enough so that he could kick his leg out and hit the god’s seat.

            That managed to do the trick, startling Thor out of whatever thoughts were taking residence in his mind. Mismatched eyes quickly flicked over and he relaxed as Peter slid back up in his seat to take the wheel. “I am sorry. I was lost in thought.”

            “Yeah, I could tell.” Peter replied, glancing back over to the other. “You look even more put off than me. I was the one that was the center of that conversation you know. Well I guess other than Rocket thinking… Things about our uh, free time activities.”

            Thor gave a small chuckle, but it was only half-hearted, before he shook his head. “It made me think of Loki.” The blonde finally pointed out, resting his cheek in his hand. “It was often that people didn’t understand her… Well, less than accepted way of presentation and identification.”

            Peter noted the change in pronouns again, nodding at the other. He couldn’t imagine trying to keep up with fluid pronouns like that, he was a bit impressed by the other. “I would’ve liked to meet her. From your stories, she sounded well… Interesting at least.” He gave a small chuckle.

            “Yes, misunderstood sadly. That is why I wish for Rabbit to understand. You are family here-“

            “ _We_ are family.” Peter interrupted, glancing back, “Don’t think you can travel with us for months and avoid being part of the family.”

            Thor smiled softly, “We are family here. I would prefer for us to get along. Bickering is normal, that is not the problem. For a family to get along, that is the most important thing.”

            The captain hummed at that, “I take it your dick of a dad didn’t like Loki and her ways of doing things.”

            The blonde shook his head, “He had little kindness for her. I thought at one point, he would do things because he truly cared. How wrong I was. I love my father, but the treatment of my sister was unjust.”

            Peter nodded, “I may not love my dad, but he treated my sister like shit too. I don’t even know if she is Ego’s daughter, but he raised her long enough for it to not matter. She’s my sister, blood or not.”

            “That is the same with Loki. She was not my blood sister, but she was my sister nonetheless.” Thor perked up a bit, smiling softly at their commonality. “But yes. I believe Rabbit is confused, perhaps never running into something like this before. His insistence upon is has upset me, I may have lost my temper. A bit.” He dipped his head in embarrassment, knowing he was the first to pick up a weapon.

            “I’ve never heard you say fuck before.” Peter pointed out, a small smirk on his lips, “You sounded like a different person.”

            The god let out a chuckle at that, leaning back in his chair. “’None of your fucking business’, it is a line I have heard used many times on Midgard, though mostly by Stark when I would inquire perhaps a bit too much.” He smiled sadly, “A shame I will not be hearing it from him again.”

            Peter nodded. He only barely knew Tony, but he knew that Thor was close to all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, so it was no wonder he’d be a bit depressed by that too. God, how many people could one guy lose? Sure, Peter lost people too, but still. “I’m sure you’re tired of losing people.” The redhead pointed out, eyes flicking to Thor a minute before going back to the large expanse of void in front of him, “We’re not losing Rocket too, okay? Not over something as stupid as this. Even if I have to pull down my pants in front of the angry rodent.” Not that that would go over well anyway.

            At least Thor seemed to relax at that, a smile creeping right back onto his face. “Thank you.” A comfortable silence fell between them until the blonde pipped up again, “How long until we get to Midgard?” His head tilted.

            The other pulled screens up, humming as he looked through the star maps for a minute. “If Nebula flies when I’m asleep? A week.” The captain flicked the screens back and looked back over.

            “I will convince her to if I must. There are several things I have been meaning to show you aside from the education we will be giving Rabbit.” Thor’s eyes all but sparkled as he thought of returning to Earth. Peter wasn’t nearly as excited, but Thor was insistent and maybe it’d do them good.

 

            As expected, with the help of Nebula which didn’t take any convincing, the trip back to Earth had taken a week. By the time the pale blue dot was visible, Peter had been back at the wheel and Thor was next to him. Mantis was quick to join, and everyone quickly started filing in to take their seats. Rocket was still silent but seemed excited about the planet in front of them. It wasn’t every day they visited a planet full of shiny objects that no one would miss. Peter let them know that stealing on this planet was against the rules, at least until they were about to head off. The last thing they needed was whoever was in charge to get pissed at them before they could make their quick escape.

            Luckily their ship was recognized so their conversation with militaries that were still weary about aliens was brief and mostly filled with Thor’s face since he was definitely the most familiar and trusted one on the ship.

            It was night where they arrived, which Peter could quickly extrapolate was some large city, likely New York. They were granted access to a landing pad and everyone filed out of the ship. Everyone aside from Peter looked excited for one reason or another. Groot even got out of his room for once and stopped being a moody teen for a few seconds so that he could take in the surroundings. Peter on the other hand was completely nervous about being back on this planet. There was a reason they left so early last time. Sure, it wasn’t at all like where he was when he was a kid, but it was Earth. Where he was born, where his mother died because of his father, where he was abducted, where he heard the word ‘fag’ on the regular, even if at the time he had no idea what it meant.

            Getting through all the military personnel, mostly having Thor talk, took up more time than even the blonde anticipated. By the time they were allowed to leave, it was getting late and it occurred to Peter that it was very unlikely this world took credits and their ship was going to stay on the military base until they left so they’d probably have to find somewhere to stay.

            Before the redhead could open his mouth though, as if on que, Thor pulled out a wallet from his pocket and produced a black card from it, holding it between his fingers. “Friends, tonight we shall rest and eat. Please, it is on me.”

            It took all his willpower for Rocket not to snatch that piece of plastic, instead looking impressed. “You pull that out _now_?!”

            “It only works on Midgard, Rabbit.” Thor hummed, having calmed down a lot form his anger towards the Rocket situation. All this time, Rocket hadn’t corrected Thor about the name, but it was clear the god learned the real version at some point since everyone else used Rocket. No one bothered him about it though, especially now with high tensions.

            The group walked a while until Thor stopped outside a prestigious hotel. “This is where I usually stayed when on Midgard.” He explained, heading inside. The blonde stepped up to the counter and ordered six rooms, already knowing it was a waste to get Nebula and Mantis private rooms since the two stayed in each other’s rooms on the ship all the time. That didn’t stop Mantis from flushing from embarrassment when she found out they were in the same room though.

 

            Anything he wanted off the room service menu, a hot shower, a comfy king-sized bed, any and all channels he could possibly watch, and even a radio. Not to mention the free snacks and alcohol. Peter should be through the roof with excitement, but as he stepped out of the shower and slid on his robe, he was just nervous. Earth wasn’t his favorite place or first choice for anything. He used to promise himself he’d never come back here. But then he was portaled here so he had no choice, and then he left. But here he was again. Going along with something Thor wanted because Rocket was being an idiot and somehow the answer to ‘how to make Rocket not be an idiot’ was going to be found on Earth. Not the most accepting place as far as Peter could remember.

            The man wrapped his robe around himself, tying it in the front and moved into his room. It was lavish, huge, and everything that made Peter uncomfortable. He scanned the surroundings a minute before realizing he might have missed his food getting here while in the shower. He stepped over to the door, pulling it open before jumping back upon seeing someone all but fall into his room. He reached for his blaster, before realizing he was wearing a robe, but quickly calmed down anyway upon seeing it was just Thor… Laying on his back half in his room and half in the hall.

            “What the fuck.” Was all Peter managed out before Thor chuckled and got up.

            “Forgive me. I knocked but you were showering, so I waited outside while you finished.” The god explained, stepping into the room this time.

            Glancing the other up and down, the redhead realized the other was also in a robe, and his cheeks threatened to heat up at the thought. “Uh. And what are you doing here? Is Groot playing video games too loud? Rocket run off to go steal the good silver? Drax doing… Something?”

            That earned another chuckle as the blonde stepped closer making Peter step back until his back was against the post of his bed. A hand moved to his shoulder gently, “No. You seem distressed.” Thor gave him a genuine and a bit sympathetic smile, “You have discomfort with Midgard. The second it came into view, your fingers stopped tapping and gripped the wheel more.” Observant, Peter couldn’t help but think, if a bit annoyed. “And when we landed you seemed concerned.”

            Peter slapped the other’s hand away at that, arms crossing over his chest. “It’s fine. I was here a few months ago, it’s not a big deal if I’m here now.” He could get over it, just think of this as another job and distance himself. There were dozens of planets that looked like Earth, this was just another one.

            Thor retracted his hand, not convinced. “You know, my sibling _was_ the goddexx of lies and mischief, right?” He asked, raising a blonde brow.

            No, Peter didn’t actually know that, because he never actually asked, let alone read into the mythos of his new crewmate. He opened his mouth to say something when there was a knock at the door and a high pitched ‘room service!’

            The redhead pushed past the god and went to the door, opening it up and taking his food before sitting down at the small table in the room. “If I say I’m uncomfortable here, are we going to get into the ship and leave?”

            “Well…” Thor stepped over, not actually having an answer.

            “We’re here now. We’re staying until we’re done with whatever it is you want.” Peter pointed out, holding out a piece of chicken with his chopsticks that he was pointing with. “What even _are_ we doing here?”

            The blonde was silent a minute before sliding into the seat across from Peter. “The young Peter is the only one so knowledgeable on this subject that I know of. And he knows everything about the recent treatment of people like my sibling. He’s like them.” He sighed lightly, “And since we’re here, there’s so many things that Midgard has to offer that I thought we could take a bit of time here.”

            “The young Peter?” Green eyes flicked up in question, apparently that was all he really focused on of the words.

            “The man of spiders.” Thor pointed out, a smile on his features, “His name is also Peter. Parker, I believe. I never understood the surnames here.”

            “Huh.” Peter took another bite, “Small galaxy.” If he was like Loki, then he was like Quill? The redhead questioned in his own head, trying to figure out how Thor knew so many of them. He remembered people like him being rare, if they existed at all. It took a second before he nodded. “Well if that’s it then we should go to bed. I’m going to eat first and then go straight there.” He shoved a bit more in his mouth.

            Thor paused a second before leaning on the table with a tilt of his head. “Would you mind if I joined you in your bed?”

            Peter almost choked on his food, pausing and holding up a hand as he tried to regain his composure and actually swallow his food. Once he managed that, he fought off the flush again, trying to gain a confident smirk, “C’mon, you’re gonna have to buy a guy some dinner first.”

            Without missing a beat, Thor gestured to the plate in front of Peter, “I believe I already have.” After that though, his face shifted back to a soft smile, “I want to keep you company. You do not have to go through your worries alone.”

            Peter clicked his tongue at that, trying to find a good reason to refuse. He grabbed his now empty plate and set it on the counter as he pretended to think more about his answer, finally he gave a sigh, “Fine.”

            Turning around, the redhead moved to click off the light and crawl into bed. It was darker than it usually was on the ship. Even when going through space, there was usually some kind of light streaming in from the stars quickly passing by. The only light he could manage to find was the electric clock by the bed which shown light blue numbers, alerting the time to be around 10pm. It took minimal feeling around before Peter slid under the covers, facing away from where Thor was going to get in. He felt the bed dip and, since this bed was huge, didn’t expect the blonde to slide close behind him and wrap an arm around his waist like the last time.

            Peter didn’t fight it though, leaning back into the warmth a bit, not that he’d admit it if he was asked. He closed his eyes a minute before a thought occurred to him.

            “Thor?”

            “Hmm.” The blonde hummed, already sounding on the brink of sleep.

            “Are you wearing anything under that robe?”

            “Hmm?” It was a second before Peter felt the other chuckle against his neck, “Ah, I seem to have left all my clothing on the ship and this robe is more comfortable to sleep in than my usual attire. So, no.”

            Warmth spread across Peter’s cheeks at that, and he tried to keep the embarrassment out of his voice. “Cool.” Was all he managed before he finished with a, “’Night.”

            “Goodnight.” Thor hummed back, pressing his face into the back of Peter’s hair, already dozing off.


	10. Help Me Understand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor's affectionate in the morning, Mantis has Nebula try on a dress, and Peter Parker spends too many hours talking about anything and everything about being trans.

            Peter felt like he could sleep forever in the large, soft bed with the warm body pressed against his back. But the light streamed in from the window and it became clear that it wasn’t about to let him sleep longer. His own hands slid down, feeling the ones still wrapped tight around his waist, preventing him from escaping again. It was comfortable this time though and his fingers traced shapes on the back of the hands clasped around his middle.

            After a few minutes, he managed to push himself around and turn in the arms, without disturbing his robe too much, so he could look at the blonde in his bed.

            All of Mantis’ words flooded back to him and he frowned, still not too sure about anything. His eyes took in the features of the other and he couldn’t help but crack a small smile. It was odd seeing the other sleep. He looked younger and older at the same time. His face not having the smiles he usually carried, but also not having the stress in his eyes. The scar that slid over his right eye looked painful, even more so than most of the ones Peter had gained over the years.

            Peter’s fingers reached up, carefully running his thumb across the raised scar tissue. His hand trailed down from there, feeling over the stubble across the blonde’s jaw, having cleaned up a lot since they started traveling again. His hair had been freed of the dreads and instead spilled out into golden waves.

            “I was wondering if you could be gentle, Love.” Peter retracted his hand quickly, as if he’d been burned and mismatched eyes opened with a soft hum.

            “There was uh… Lint stuck to your face.” Peter defended, getting a chuckle from the other before the blonde stretched and pulled the other forward more, pressing his face to the captain’s neck.

            “You need not make excuses if you want to touch me.” It was the word choice mixed with the tired breath against his neck that made the redhead flush again, moving to put his hand on the other’s forehead and push him away with a small huff.

            “Shut up.” Peter managed, staring down into the other’s hazel and blue eyes, and ah that was a mistake because he was just flushing again. He made a face before pushing both of his hands over Thor’s eyes to make him stop looking at him like that.

            That just earned another chuckle before Thor tilted his head a bit to kiss Peter’s wrist lightly.

            “Are you always this affectionate when you wake up?” Peter grumbled lightly, keeping his hands where they were so he could calm down.

            A small hum, whether in thought or out of amusement Peter couldn’t tell, left the blonde’s lips before a smile slid onto them. “Yes.” The lord wasn’t sure if he should be annoyed by that or relieved, but he didn’t have much time to think on it before the other was talking again. “May I kiss you this morning?” Even with the king’s eyes covered, he was hard to resist.

            Instead of moving his hands, he kept them covering up the other’s eyes as he stopped to think. He still wasn’t sure what their relationship was, what his feelings were, and it felt a bit unfair. But Thor was the one that asked and was also the one who _didn’t_ ask what their relationship was meant to be. So, Peter moved in, pressing his lips to the other’s as he tried to mimic the soft and gentle way the god seemed to prefer. It managed to catch Thor by surprise though, not expecting the other to actually kiss him but after a second, he reciprocated it.

            The phone ringing ripped Peter out of his thoughts and he pulled away, removing his hands. Thor still hadn’t let go of his waist, so he had to awkwardly bend back a bit to grab it from the holder. He pulled it to his face with a confused, “Hello?”

            “This is your wakeup call, sir. It’s 7am.” The voice sounded far too chipper for 7am.

            “Thanks.” He mumbled and just shoved the phone back where it belonged before squirming to get out of the blonde’s hold. Thor complied, pulling his arms back to allow Peter to get up. The redhead fixed his robe before getting up and turning around. Thor shoved off the sheet, his robe hanging half open and Peter had to turn right back around to not stare at him. “You should go back and change, we’ll grab clothes from the ship or something later.”

            “Aye.” The sound of fabric shuffling sounded behind him and Peter glanced back as Thor had fixed his robe and was now stepping over to the door. The blonde glanced back a minute with a smile before opening the door and pausing. Peter furrowed his brow and moved to step closer before Thor stated, happily, “Good morning, Nebula! And Mantis!” A god, naked under a robe, leaving his room in the morning, ah yes that’d be fun to try and explain to his sister and her girlfriend. He watched as the door closed before heading back to the bathroom to change back into his previous outfit.

            The entire team sat down for breakfast, the hotel having its own restaurant. It was showing more and more how lavish Thor used to live his life before he got aboard their ship. Peter glanced over, noticing his sister’s eyes on him and the large smile she wore. He flushed at that and just looked away to try and focus on his food. He had a feeling she’d be asking questions later.

            Peter just tried to eat his meal in peace. Chancing a glance back to the blonde, he noted the other deep in his own thoughts, likely about what they’d be doing today. He had an odd device out, something he seemed to of kept from the last time he was on earth. Thor scrolled through words and words, which was impressive as far as Peter remembered Earth technology being. Thor’s eyes seemed to light up a second and he smiled before clicking away at the keys on the screen. He was contacting someone by the looks of it. Peter glanced away, deciding the other would take care of it just fine.

            “What are we doin’ today?” The raccoon finally pipped up, finishing his fifth bowl of food and finally seemed full.

            “Today, we will be meeting with the Man of Spiders. He has much to tell. I found his number and we will get his address and then we will go. This morning, we will buy Midgardian clothes though, as we did not bring any and the American military tend not to like outsiders running in and out of their bases. Trust me.” Thor pointed out. Once everyone seemed done, he got up again, gesturing for everyone to follow. On Midgard, it seemed Thor was the captain of their team. Not that anyone was complaining, though Peter had a bit of an internal conflict about it, but he’d let it go for now.

            Walking around an Earth city was odd to say the least, especially for Peter. There were a lot of stares from people since aliens were still very rare around the Earth and one of the people with them was, quite literally, blue, and another was, well, Drax, and the last was a walking teenage tree who was just trying to beat his high score.

            Once the team stumbled upon what seemed to be a mall, they all headed in. Mantis pulled Nebula along with her and went straight for the dresses, obviously wanting to see what her girlfriend would look like in one. Drax just browsed for pants, Groot needed nothing, and Rocket tried to find a bowtie in the children’s section. Peter and Thor moved on to the men’s section, not that Peter really thought much about Earth fashion. He just wanted to sleep in something that wasn’t a robe since he was sure Thor would ask to sleep together again.

            “Aha!” Thor exclaimed, pulling a pair of pajama pants off the rack and shaking them at Quill who could only chuckle. They were comic book styled pants with Thor all over them, his name down the side of said pants.

            “I can’t believe you have your face on pajamas.” Peter reached out, taking them and Thor only grinned in amusement.

            “They have them in your size.” Thor teased, moving back to slide through the pajamas. Peter managed to fight off the flush threatening his cheeks and he stared down at the pants before slinging them over his arm. He had to get them, if only for the jokes he could make.

            Thor grabbed a pair of simple red pajama pants before perusing the shirts, finding more superhero merch, but skipped over it this time for a simple black t-shirt. Peter glanced over the pile a bit, finding even more Thor shirts, he must be popular, before grabbing a plain t-shirt as well.

            The two found a more casual change of clothes as well, since they weren’t even sure how long they’d even be here and changing clothes once in a while was expected. Peter glanced back at Nebula and Mantis before giving a smirk and tapping Thor on the shoulder to look over. Mantis had convinced Nebula to try on a sun dress and hat. It was very much not Nebula, but it was very cute. She seemed to be humoring her partner at least. When Mantis held up a leather jacket though, Nebula’s eyes almost sparkled and she slipped it on. Yeah, that was much more her style.

            By the time the crew was finished with their little shopping trip, the group made it back to the hotel to put things away before Thor perked up, having gotten a text from Parker.

 

            The Parker apartment wasn’t very spacious, to say the least. Suddenly holding 9 people, even though one was a small raccoon and another was a skinny teenage tree, made it feel far smaller. That didn’t stop the boy in front of the crew though, a grin on his face, looking like an excited puppy.

            “It’s good to see you again Mr. Thor!” Parker finally said as May placed a tray of lemonade down on the coffee table for everyone. The teen’s large brown eyes swept the entirety of the group in front of him and moved back to Quill before he held out his hand, “Nice to see you again Mr. Starlord sir!” The excitement in his voice could make anyone feel like a celebrity.

            The redhead shook his hand with a grin, “Quill.” He said simply, moving his hand away. “That’s Mantis, Nebula, Drax, Groot, and Rocket.” Parker took the time to shake everyone’s hand.

            “So, Mr. Thor, what was the favor you need?” He tilted his head a bit, “I mean, no offense but I’m not exactly… Well if you need brains, you know Mr. Banner is the smartest guy around. I mean, I’m strong, but I’d say Mr. Banner’s got me beat on that too.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

            “You have the brightest mind I know.” Thor retorted, “And you have beaten me in an arm-wrestling match! Do not talk lowly of yourself, Peter.”

            The kid seemed to perk up at that but furrowed his brows, “Then why are you here?”

            “Well, we were hoping to talk about your expertise when it comes to people such as yourself and my dear brother Loki.” Thor pointed out.

            “Oh…” Parker paused a minute before perking up even more, “Oh! Did you get in another fight about them?”

            “This one was about Quill.” Drax pipped in again, “Rocket insists he’s a girl.”

            Quill’s cheeks started to heat up again and he shot a glare down the table and Rocket groaned in response, “I did _not_ insist.” No one was buying that.

            Parker just stared, wide-eyed a minute before a smile slid onto his lips again, “There’s trans people in space? I mean, I know Loki was, but I mean… And he hasn’t even been on Earth since he was a kid!” The kid tried not to get too excited and he held his hands up a second to calm himself. “Okay.”

 

            It was a long conversation, or more learning lesson than anything else. Everyone listened, but Rocket was the most engaged one of all. Words he’d never heard were thrown out, concepts he’d never thought of were brought up, and he listened, seeming to actually try to understand. He was frustrated by the end of it, but not at Parker, seemingly at himself. The teen talked with such knowledge, such expertise on the subject, that Peter couldn’t help but pay attention as well. There were words for him, and they were being spoken so casually. At one point, Quill asked if Earth was tolerant of it, but Parker gave a small shrug and smile. He explained that people were less discriminated against compared to when Quill was a kid, but it wasn’t perfect. He then showed Quill pictures of marches and protests, people seeming to live their lives openly and it struck a cord with the captain.

            By the end of it, there was nothing more Parker could say and nothing more Rocket could ask. It was quiet and May took that as a sign to bring out sandwiches for everyone. Before they ate though, Peter got up and gestured for the raccoon to follow him. They went up and to the roof, sitting on it with a long silence between them.

            “I still don’t get it.” Rocket finally said, watching the birds flutter by. Peter opened his mouth to say something, but a small paw was held up, “I still don’t get it, but I know I was wrong.”

            Peter gave a small smile at that and nodded, “I didn’t expect anything right away.” He shrugged, “Hell, I didn’t even know most of the shit that kid said.” He chuckled and Rocket joined in. The silence settled in again before Peter took it upon himself to break it this time. “Do I look like a girl?”

            “No.” Rocket sighed out.

            “Do I sound like a girl?”

            “No.”

            “Do I call myself a girl?”

            “No.”

            “Do I fight like a girl?”

            Rocket smirked at that, “In your dreams.”

            Quill bumped the animal’s arm gently, “Then how, in your right mind, would I be a girl?”

            Rocket chuckled at that, leaning back on his paws, “You’re not.” Peter nodded at that. “Sorry. I guess I never really thought about it before. Not all of us go around bangin’ the whole galaxy and think about what’s in their pants after.” He nudged the human’s arm with his shoulder playfully.

            Peter couldn’t help but snort, “All this because I’ve got a vagina. You know you’re a talking raccoon, right?”

            Rocket returned the snort but nudged him a bit harder, “Yeah, yeah. I get why you got so pissy and jealous now when everyone was complimenting Thor’s manliness. We all thought you were jealous he’d take Gamora away, who would have thought you just wanted to bang him.”

            The thought of Gamora still stung, but it was much easier now, and the fact that Rocket could joke about it made it feel almost normal. “I don’t want to bang him.”

            Rocket gave a sly smirk, raising a brow, “I’ve seen him walk out of your room twice now, and he was wearing a robe today.”

            “Wow, look at what we’re not talking about.” Peter got up, dusting off his pants.

            The racoon scrambled up next to him, dusting off his fur before pausing a minute and looking up at Peter. “We’re cool, right?”

            A small smile slid onto the redhead’s face and he held out his fist for a bump, “Yeah, we’re cool. It’s not like it’s the first time one of us was an idiot.”

            “Won’t be the last.” Rocket agreed, bumping his fist.

            “Come on, let’s get inside before they eat all the sandwiches.” The raccoon nodded at that and they headed back inside.

 

            “I’m tellin’ you kid, don’t ever get surgery in the back alley on Zortin 246. Bad idea.” Peter pointed a fry at the teen in front of him, “I wouldn’t be surprised if I was missing more organs that I asked them to take out.”

            “I’ll keep that in mind.” Parker chuckled before sitting up a bit more, “Can I see? I mean it’s fine if not, I don’t want to be rude.”

            Most of the crew had already gone back to the hotel. It was getting late and the conversation was feeling more private. Thor stayed though, wanting to learn more and happily talking about Loki with the kid. Plus, it was nice to see an old member of the group.

            “Sure.” Quill shrugged, seeing no harm and pushed his coat off before pulling up his shirt. A lot of different scars lined his chest, and the new one on his side from a few weeks ago now, though it was fading as well. He gestured to the harsh, scraggly lines under his pecs and the one that sliced down his abdomen. “They’re not pretty, I’m telling you it was the worst experience of my life and I’ve been with a Hargothian woman.” He chuckled, not that Peter would understand.

            “Ouch.” Peter mumbled, staring at the scars, “That somehow makes me feel better about getting surgery, since it’s here on Earth where I won’t have to worry about someone taking my liver.”

            Quill chuckled at that, pushing his shirt back down. His eyes wondered over to the clock and he blinked, “Ah shit, we should go.” Parker gave a face of disappointment at that. “Sorry, we promised Drax a trip to the aquarium.”

            “You can come with us, if you would like.” Thor spoke up, watching the kid gain a smile on his face again.

            “Yes! I mean I’ll ask aunt May, but I’ll text you.” Parker stood, seeing the two to the door and waving a hand at them before they headed out.

            “He’s a good kid.” Peter finally said once they were out of the apartment building, shoving his hands into his pockets.

            “Yes, a tragedy that he lost Stark, but I am glad to see him doing well.” Thor gave a small smile at that.

            “Hey, knock off that face. We didn’t lose Rocket, that’s something.” Peter pointed out, watching as Thor smiled a bit at that.

            “I am glad you managed to forgive him. I think he has learned a lot today.” Thor hummed, but still looked sad. Peter was sure it was because he was thinking about Loki again. Even when he’d have good stories about them, he’d still look far off and sad.

            “You’re a hypocrite, you know that?” Quill pointed out before moving a hand from his pocket to take Thor’s instead, trying to comfort him. When Thor gave him a questioning look, for the words, the redhead rolled his eyes. “You told me to think about the good memories of Gamora and to know that she’d be happy and all that. To not make her memory a sad one, but here you are, looking sad every time they’re brought up.”

            Thor squeezed his hand lightly as they walked, “Ah, yes well I’ve never been good at following advice.” He pointed out, “Even if it’s my own.”

            Peter nodded at that, hoping he could at least comfort him with his hand. A silence fell over them, but it wasn’t uncomfortable or awkward, simply comforting. They made it back to the hotel and back to Peter’s room before they let go of each other’s hand. Thor moved to head back to his room and Quill grabbed his arm for only a minute. “You can stay in my bed tonight.” He shifted a bit.

            Thor couldn’t help the smile that spread across his lips at that and he nodded, heading back to his room just to change before coming right back. Peter was already in bed, not the edge this time, closer to the middle so the two could spread out more with Thor’s inevitable cuddling. And cuddle he did. The god moved right to the middle of the bed, trying to not be too excited by the invitation, but still looking like a child on Christmas. He wrapped both arms around Peter’s middle and pulled him close. This time the redhead slid his arms around the other in return, pressing his face into the blonde’s neck with a small sigh. It was becoming more and more clear what his feelings were, and it wasn’t like Thor was giving him any breaks from thinking about it either.

            “Goodnight, Love.” Thor mumbled, against his hair and Peter chuckled at that, sighing contently.

            “Goodnight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya boy has a degree in gender and sexuality studies, but I also really don't feel like writing out an entire conversation about the ins and outs of it. I hope you understand.


	11. We're Not Dating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aquarium trip was fun, until it wasn't. Everyone wants to adopt Peter. Rocket decides to do a bar heist which just becomes an excuse for Peter to complain about Thor and his feelings.

            This time, what woke Peter up was the phone ringing. He grumbled lightly, stretching as much as he could to reach it since he was further away this time.

            “This is your wakeup call, sir. It’s 7am.” The voice sang out, exactly the same as the day before, as if reading off of a script or automatically spitting out the phrase with practice. It was still far too chipper for 7am.

            “Thanks.” Peter found himself mumbling and put the phone back. He was pulled back into place by strong arms though and the blonde pressed his face into the back of Quill’s neck almost with a whine. That only made the redhead snort though. “You’re the one that set the wakeup call so early.”

            “Yes, and I am regretting it more as time passes.” Thor mumbled, pressing his face into the soft, strawberry blonde hair in front of himself.

            Peter was admittedly far too comfortable in this moment to ruin it by asking what they were doing and questioning why he was letting himself be cuddled every day. That’d have to be later. He tried not to be disappointed when Thor moved his arms from around him. The captain turned onto his back to watch the other, but the blonde was still hovering, leaning on his arm as he stared down at Quill with a soft look.

            After a few seconds, the redhead averted his eyes and shoved a hand to the god’s chest. “Go change. You wanted to go to the aquarium.”

            “Perhaps I have found something better to look at.” Thor reached down, taking the other’s hand to kiss the back of it and Peter sat up quickly, cheeks burning, and all but shoved him out of the bed. It still surprised Thor how strong the human managed to be.

            “I’m sure that kid and Drax don’t share your sentiment now go on.” Quill stammered, moving to slide off the bed on the other side so that he could go and change. Thor finally gave a chuckle, getting up as well before moving back to the door.

            The plan would be to take Drax with them and pick up Peter, going off to the aquarium together. Groot, Nebula, and Mantis had plans to take the teen to the bookstore so that he could pick out books that he liked instead of having to read Nebula’s. No one was quite sure what Rocket was planning, but from past experiences, he was likely out finding the shadiest bar he could manage.

 

            The party of four showed up at the large aquarium, and it was like managing two kids. Drax had already disappeared, and Quill hoped it wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass later. Peter on the other hand, was as much in sight as he could possibly be, loudly and excitedly all but running into the room.

“And the whale shark is the most interesting one! It’s one of three filter feeding sharks that are known! Oh and they can even help tell scientists about the environment because they’ll tend to stay a long time in waters that have a surplus of plankton in them which is good for the environment because they make up more than half of the Earth’s supply of oxygen!” Peter started listing off facts the second he stepped out the door. All the way down the street and to the doors of the aquarium. It was cute, but if this kept up, Quill was going to end up with a headache before he even got to see a single fish.

            The rooms were far colder than Quill was expecting. All the tanks filled with water and aquatic life was a bit breathtaking. He had remembered going to an aquarium as a kid, but he didn’t think it was nearly as big as the one here. He had been to tons of planets, tons of different exhibits, but he was usually ‘working’ for those and couldn’t exactly sit around and take everything in.

            Parker was already busying himself with reading, out loud, any and all information he could find about the animals in front of himself. The kid seemed to like information and learning; it was almost endearing. It would be more endearing if the three didn’t get glares every few minutes by people who were trying to enjoy the animals in peace.

            “Well if you’re just trying to look at stupid fish in peace, you should’ve just looked at pictures at home.” Quill found himself grumbling, almost under his breath, before feeling Thor gently nudge him. The redhead was just trying to make sure the small Peter could actually enjoy himself, but it seemed Thor understood by the fond smile playing at his lips.

            “This is it!” Parker finally pipped up, all but running over to the tank to smile at it. Inside was a very large, blue fish with white spots. “The largest fish in the ocean! The whale shark.” He introduced as the two adults stepped up behind him to take a look. “The pattern on every one of them is as different as a fingerprint. It’s how scientists track them and recognize them.” The teen started babbling on yet again.

            Quill just stared before pausing when he felt an arm wrap around his waist, pulling him close. He relaxed a bit, just taking in the massive fish in front of them, the wavering blue glow from the tank lighting up the area.

            After a few minutes of listing off facts and just taking in the large whale shark, Parker finally turned around, opening his mouth to say something before it got lost in his throat and his eyes lit up in a different way as he saw Thor with his arm around Quill and the latter with his head on the god’s shoulder, though he pulled back when he noticed Parker’s face.

            “Are you guys dating?” The teen asked curiously before pausing, “Oh shit I’m the third wheel, aren’t I?” He held up his hands apologetically. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. If you would have told me…”

            Quill pulled away fully from the blonde and held up his own hands, more in defense. “What? No we’re not-“

            “We are not dating.” Thor assured, placing a hand on the teen’s shoulder. “It is simply affection between friends.” He stated.

            Quill’s head whipped around at that, staring right at the god before he clicked his tongue. “Affection between friends?” He parroted, almost squawking like the bird as he did. Both pairs of eyes were on him in a second, but he couldn’t bring himself to care, turning around with a huff. “Yeah, yeah just affection between friends.” He finally grumbled out and went to head toward the exit when he felt a hand on his arm but tugged it away without even bothering to look back. “I’m going outside, it’s too cold in here.”

            The air was warmer outside, the sound of the city was loud and drown the thoughts threatening to run wild in his head. He grabbed the Zune from his pocket and put in his earbuds before just leaning against the building. Drax joined him not much later, though seemed to ignore him as he got distracted by a group of birds. He luckily had popcorn with him and took the time to crouch down and feed them.

            It wasn’t long after that that Parker and Thor came out as well, both looking apologetic, but Peter quickly brushed them both off, not in the mood to hear whatever it was they had to say. He knew he was being unfairly grumpy about the blonde admitting they were just friends, after all they _were_ just friends. But he still couldn’t help but brood about this a bit, he thought the other was at least treating him as more than a friend.

 

            It wasn’t until they reached Peter’s apartment that Quill took off his headphones. The teen looked up at him with a sheepish smile and the redhead brought him in for the hug it looked like the other wanted.

            “I didn’t get to meet Loki, there were so many things I wanted to ask them. I’m glad I got to meet you though.” Peter pulled back from the hug, a frown on his usual light face and he glanced down for a minute. “I know you guys don’t stay on Earth, traveling the galaxy and everything, but you can visit me any time. Even if you don’t see Earth as your home, I want you to at least know you’re always welcome here.” He looked like he was going to cry, and Peter knew why, the boy had been through so much. Honestly under different circumstances, he’d ask the boy to just come join the crew and travel with them, but his place was here, and Quill’s wasn’t.

            The Star Lord reached down and ruffled the soft brown hair before pulling the kid in for another hug. “We’ll see you again before we go. And I’ll give you access to call us any time. Just… Try to keep the science rants to a minimum.” A smile slid onto his face which the teen returned. Once Quill pulled back, Thor did the same, exchanging similar words with the boy before they had to head off.

            This time the redhead didn’t put his headphones in, it was quiet for a while before Thor finally spoke up. “Two hugs in one night, the man of spiders is lucky. It is rare you show your affections so openly.” It was meant as a joke, but it still struck a chord and made Quill think about the other’s words at the aquarium.

            “It’s simply affection between friends.” Peter repeated from their earlier conversation.

            Thor stopped walking at that, a frown on his face before he reached out and tugged on Peter’s sleeve to stop him too. The shorter man didn’t even bother looking at him, but stopped anyway.

            “Perhaps there is something we must talk about.” The blonde stated, less of a question than anything.

            Peter yanked his sleeve away from the other and instead crossed his arms. “What’s there to talk about?” He didn’t think he could possibly stand the other saying that his affections were normal for friendship. The guy was a weird Viking alien after all, who knows the customs they have. Sure, he hadn’t seen him kiss anyone else on the ship but what if he did? Peter’s chest ached at that, trying to shove it from his mind. Before Thor could speak, Quill stood up a bit straighter, faux confidence in his stance. “You know, it’s really fine. I mean, I kiss my friends too. You should see the cuddle sessions that Rocket and I have. It’s crazy, he’s like a warm dog.” He wasn’t about to say the only time he ever cuddled with Rocket was when they were in the freezing cold and he didn’t even mean to cuddle his crewmate, but did wake up with a blaster pressed against his stomach and a warning to never talk about it ever again, but close enough.

            Thor only frowned at that, looking far more upset than Peter would’ve guessed he’d be. He’s the one who said it was affection between friends, what does he have to be upset about. The redhead shifted a bit at that, averting his gaze. Why did this have to be so complicated. He was kicking himself for not just outright saying he wanted something more, wasn’t satisfied with ‘just affection between friends’. But then again, last time he was in this situation, Gamora had turned him down as gently as she could, which was still rather hard in his book honestly. Why was he always on this side of the line?

            The blonde was silent for too long and Peter glanced back at him. He looked like he wanted to say something, maybe searching for the words, but Quill refused to stay here for this. They weren’t dating, they were friends and crewmates, that’s all it was. He needed a drink.

            “I’m going to find Rocket.” Peter finally spoke up, snapping Thor out of his thoughts. Before Thor could protest, headphones were slid back into place and he headed to try and find the shadiest bar that he could. There would be no doubt the talking raccoon would be there.

 

            It didn’t take long to find; the bar was surprisingly close to the hotel they were staying at. Smoke filled the air, rough looking people of all genders sitting and chatting. It looked like a place that could openly have a drug deal without anyone so much as batting an eye. So, there was no surprise when, at the back of the place, Rocket was being held up by the scruff of his neck by two large men and a scary looking woman who was yelling. Peter rolled his eyes, wondering what the guy got his grubby paws on this time.

            “Put him down.” Peter’s voice was far more confident than he felt. Taking out all these guys all by himself, that’d be a problem. With or without Rocket’s help.

            “Took you long enough.” Quipped the trash bandit, arms crossed over his chest as if he’d been waiting the whole time.

            “Does this _rat_ belong to you?” The woman asked, scowl on her dark painted lips as she gestured over to Rocket.

            “I’m not a rat!”

            With a sigh, Quill crossed his own arms. “Unfortunately, yes. Now just let him go, and we can forget this ever happened.” He held up his hands, to symbolize peace.

            “Let him go? Are you crazy! He stole the jewels! And we can’t find them on him! We’re going to beat them out of him.”

            Peter tried not to roll his eyes, shooting a glare at his smallest crewmate that tried to read ‘I thought I told you that we aren’t stealing things on Earth until we leave’. To which, the raccoon simply gave a shrug and sly grin. He was very tempted to let Rocket figure his way out of this one.

            “Sorry lady, but if they’re not on him, then he must not have them.” Peter stepped closer, but the second he did, almost everyone in the bar pulled out a gun and aimed it right at him. He frowned, glancing around at them to think. “Rocket, seriously you have the worst taste in venue.”

            Before anyone knew it, Rocket slipped free from their grasp and in the confusion, Peter ducked behind a booth as the shooting started. It was only a second before Rocket joined him, holding up his blaster as Quill did the same.

            “You’re buying me lunch.” The redhead grunted, trying to get the right angle. He definitely wasn’t aiming to kill, just knock guns out of hands. Last thing he needed was getting a record on this planet and disappointing the Parker boy about why he couldn’t come back to Earth.

            “I’ll buy you breakfast, lunch, and dinner as long as we get out of here alive.” Rocket huffed, shooting back.

            “There’s too many of them. They won’t follow us outside, at least not for long, it’s still light out and I don’t think the cops would take kindly to a bunch of assholes with guns running around. Do you think we could make a break for it?” Peter shot another gun out of someone’s hand, but they were closing in fast.

            “I jump on your back and shoot while you run.” Rocket stated, huffing as a shot barely missed him. “Just don’t get out of breath after a few steps because you’re out of shape.”

            “I will leave you here.” Peter warned.

            “No, you won’t.” Rocket smirked at him before the two put their plan into action. Quill jumped up, kicking a table across the room as the raccoon clambered onto his back and they made a break for it.

            Peter was surprised by how far some of them chased the pair. Whatever rocket stole was definitely valuable. Once they finally lost them, they found themselves on the top of a roof again, both laying on it as they breathed and got down from their adrenaline.

            After a few minutes, a smirk slid onto the raccoon’s lips as he held up a bottle he stole from the bar on the way out. Peter’s eyes rolled at that and he sat up, “When did you steal that?”

            “When you weren’t looking.”

            “Well after that shit you pulled, you better be sharing.” The captain sat up, grabbing the bottle after the animal took a drink from it so he could down some himself.

 

            “And then he said ‘we’re just friends’! What the fuck!’ Peter all but yelled, the empty discarded whiskey bottle at his side.

            “No way!” Rocket chuckled at that, falling onto his back. He may not have had much of the bottle, but it didn’t take much to get him just as drunk with his small body weight. “What a fuckin’ idiot!”

            “’S what I was thinkin’!” Peter fell onto his back next to the other, arms animated as he talked. “Is that what they do in Asgard all day?”

            “Never seen him do it to anyone else.” Rocket shrugged. “Just seen him kiss Mantis’ hand once. But Nebs slapped him for it.”

            Quill snorted at that, “Nebs?” He shook his head.

            “Why don’t you ask him?”

            “He already said we were just friends.”

            “Yeah, in front of someone else.” Rocket pointed out, looking up at the other from the ground. “Maybe he wasn’t sure what you wanted.”

            “He didn’t have to say it like that!” Quill threw up his arms, “He could have just said we were just friends!”

            “Well, you’re both idiots so,” The raccoon smirked, “maybe try putting it in as plain of terms as you can so he won’t be able to misunderstand.”

            “But I don’t even know-“

            “Don’t start with that shit. You’re just as mushy as with Gamora. You’re so desperate to figure out what his feelings are that you’re getting drunk with me and complaining. Hell, I don’t think you ever cared _this_ much about whether or not Gamora had feelings for you. Maybe because she made it clear, maybe because you like Thor more, who knows! But I’m getting real sick of whatever’s going on between you two. Either date, or don’t, just stop bugging me with all this ‘does he, doesn’t he’ shit!”

            Peter couldn’t help the small smile at that, knowing Rocket was actually invested in this as well, no matter how he said it. He reached over, giving his friend a ruffle on the head before standing up. “Alright, I’m going to tell him.”

            “Wait now?” The animal all but jumped up to follow him back to the hotel. “You’re drunk, you dumbass.”

            “This dumbass does his best work while drunk, I’ll have you know.” Peter stated matter-of-factly.

            Rocket rolled his eyes as they moved to find a way off the roof without hurting themselves. “I do your best work while you’re drunk.” He chuckled.


	12. I Found You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's drunk self is an idiot, Drax is missing, Thor finds someone none of them expect to, and the stranger takes up so much time.

            If you asked Quill how he got here, or why he fell asleep on a teenage boy’s laptop, then you’d be out of luck for an answer. He remembered drinking with Rocket and then deciding to go yell at Thor about his feelings. But this wasn’t the hotel they were staying at; this was Peter Parker’s living room.

            The redhead sat up, wiping the drool from his face as he stared at the laptop in front of him, screen black. He noted that there was also a blanket around his shoulders and a cup of water and pain tablet in front of him. He wasn’t sure if Peter or May had put it there, but he was grateful either way and took them both.

            “Oh. You’re awake!” Parker stated, far too loudly as he stepped out of the kitchen with a plate of food. It would smell amazing if his stomach wasn’t protesting at the idea of food.

            “Why am I here?” Quill grunted out, shutting the laptop in front of himself.

            “You don’t remember?” The teen paused, putting the plate down on the coffee table, “Well that’d make sense. You were pretty drunk when you came and asked for help.” He sat down on the couch. “May was so worried! But you wouldn’t let her make you go to sleep until you got a mixtape.” He reached out, picking up a CD from a case and held it up.

            Quill was, admittedly, not following at all. He furrowed his brows, staring at it. “What is this?”

            Instead of a verbal answer, Parker pulled the laptop over, opening it up and popping the CD in to show him. “You made a mix-tape for Thor! You said it’d be the perfect way to show him how you feel so he won’t be confused.”

            The redhead just stared at the songs, some he recognized, some he didn’t and was pretty sure was Parker’s doing. They were all love songs though and he only flushed hard at that realization before putting his head in his hands. There was no way he could give this to Thor.

            “I know what you’re thinking.” Parker pointed out, making Quill glance over at him, “You guys don’t have a CD player on hand, just on the ship. You told me last night. So I took the liberty to send a file with all of them to Thor’s phone.”

            Quill froze, oh god please no. His eyes widened as he stared up at Parker, swallowing dryly, “When.” Was all he could muster the courage to ask.

            “While May was making breakfast. Like… Five minutes ago?” He glanced down at his phone.

            “What time is it?”

            “6:45, why?” Parker tilted his head.

            “I have to go.” With that, Quill sprang up, grabbed the CD, yelled a ‘thanks’ before all but running out the door, hearing Peter call behind him. There was no way he was going to let Thor listen to that. What would he think? What… Did he want him to think? Ugh he was supposed to _talk_ to him last night, not get some bright idea to go make a sappy mix tape drunk in the middle of the night at some teen superhero’s house. Is this rock bottom? … Yeah no it could definitely get worse.

 

            It was not that short of a run to the hotel, but luckily, he managed to get there before 7 when the wakeup call would happen. He ran all the way up the stairs and straight to Thor’s room, more than guessing the man didn’t stay in Peter’s room last night. Out of breath, definitely covered in sweat, and still nursing a bad hangover, he knocked quickly at Thor’s hotel door.

            It was about a minute later that Thor finally opened the door, looking exhausted and disheveled as he stared down at peter with concerned, furrowed brows. “Peter-“

            The redhead quickly shoved past him, glancing around and finding Thor’s phone before grabbing it and… Wait fuck what was he supposed to do now? He didn’t know _where_ Parker sent it, but what was he supposed to do? Break it? He paused, holding up the phone about to hit it on the nightstand before his arm was swiftly grabbed.

            “Peter! What are you _doing_?!” Thor tugged the device out of the slightly shorter man’s hand, brows furrowed even more. The blonde frowned a minute before moving to sit on his bed, “Are you alright?” He reached up to tug the other to sit as well, “You look absolutely panicked.” He stared at the other with absolute concern and it hurt Quill’s chest to know he’s the one that put that look there.

            Peter opened his mouth to respond but the phone on the desk started ringing with what was definitely the wakeup call, he simply picked it up and slammed it back down, turning his attention right back to Thor. It was a long minute before he managed a mumbled, “Sorry.” Not really answering the question nor even beginning on the pressing issue they were both aware needed addressed. Feelings. Honestly Quill would rather jump out the window than do this sober, but drunk Peter would rather make a shitty mixtape than have this conversation too it seemed.

            After a few more seconds it became clear that Peter wasn’t about the be the one to open this can of worms, so Thor started instead. “We should talk about what happened yesterday. In fact, we should talk about what has been happening for the past several weeks as well.”

            Quill cringed a bit, shifting, he really didn’t want to but the look on Thor’s face was pleading. He was probably suffering just as much as Peter was with this. Not the talking about his feelings part, but the not knowing what they were, what they _could be_ part. “Is it…” The redhead frowned, not meeting his eyes. The question he wanted to ask the most and wanted the answer to the least because it would hurt the most. He gave a small huff to himself, irritated he couldn’t muster up the balls to ask one stupid question. His eyes flicked up to meet concerned, hopefully mismatched eyes. “Is it normal for space Vikings to cuddle and kiss their friends?” He mumbled out, less harsh than even he expected.

            Thor gave a chuckle at that, his head shaking, trying to keep the laughing down as this was a serious conversation. “No, Peter, I do not kiss you because you are my friend.”

            “Then what-“ Quill’s words were swiftly cut off when there was banging on the door and a frantic, “Thor! Quill! Emergency!” was yelled, it was Mantis.

            The two all but bolted to the door, pulling it open to come faced with the entire crew sans Drax standing in the hall, looking as worried as their respective faces would allow. “What is wrong?” Thor asked, looking around outside the room.

            “Have you seen Drax?” Mantis’ face was overcome in worry, “We haven’t seen him since he left with you two yesterday.”

            There was a small pause before Peter shoved his face into his hands, “Holy shit we left him at the aquarium.”

            Our of everything, this managed to make Nebula let out a snort, putting her hand up to her mouth so that she wouldn’t laugh. Mantis was worried, she shouldn’t laugh right now. Rocket on the other hand laughed loud enough for the both of them, cackling with his head back. Mantis was still wrapped in worry and even Groot’s little bark-brows had a furrow to them as he looked around. Thor sighed, rubbing his forehead. Of course this would happen, and now of all times.

            “We will bring him back.” Thor stated, grabbing Quill’s arm as they walked. “Please wait here for our return.”

            “Yeah wait here for us.” Peter stated, still somehow trying to act like the captain even though that was feeling more and more like Thor. Man, they really needed to get off this planet so that they could go back to their proper dynamics.

            As the two exited the hotel, Quill sighed, glancing around. “We should check the aquarium first. He couldn’t have gone far.” He said nervously. Why hadn’t they just kept an eye on him? Oh right, they were struggling with feelings yesterday. His headache was coming back full force.

            “I agree.” Thor said, glancing around, nervous. Peter grabbed his hand gently, knowing he was worried about losing another person.

            “We’ll find him.”

 

            Drax wasn’t at the aquarium, but it wasn’t too hard to find him if the loud laughing was anything to come by. The man was almost a block away, inside of a pet shop as the dogs licked his face. The two searchers paused at the door, noting all the animals were out of their cages and Drax was in the middle of the room gaining the love of every animal within a few feet.

            At first, Peter thought maybe Drax had let all the animals loose inside of the store before he paused, seeing a rather tall and disheveled looking person sitting on top of the kitten cage, mischievous smile on their lips. He couldn’t even begin to recognize the person before Thor gasped beside him.

            “Loki!” Thor called out, eyes wide as he stepped over, scanning over the person before he settled on, “Brother! You are alive?!”

            “Thor. Honestly what a boring way to go out, would it not have been?” Loki asked, glancing at the three men, brow raised slightly. “You made a friend?”

            “Two! Oh, and Peter and I are not friends.” Thor settled on, making Peter pause. That… Wasn’t much better considering they hadn’t managed to actually talk about what they even were.

            “Komplisert forhold*?” Loki tilted his head, jumping down from the cage when Thor nodded. “Romantisk forhold**?” He stepped over to Peter, grabbing him by the chin as if inspecting him. Quill frowned and batted his hand away.

            “Yes, Loki. Leave him be, tell me what you are doing here? Why has it taken you so long to return if you were going to?” Thor was almost pleading with him, ignoring everything else.

            “Uh, Thor I thought your sibling was dead.” Peter frowned, pointing out, feeling a bit hurt by what he was assumed was a lie.

            “He was. He… It is complicated, but Loki has died a few times now.” Thor frowned back, “I was under the assumption that he was dead for good this time. I am happy to see you are back, Loki, but almost six years? Even for you that is a lot.”

            “I have been busy.” Loki stated, stepping back and ushering the animals off of Drax who sat up, still chuckling. “I heard you drank yourself dumber than usual and then left the world, leaving New Asgard without their king.”

            Peter frowned again, brows furrowing. He wasn’t aware of any of this, a bit of Thor’s drunk past, but he left New Asgard? There _was_ a New Asgard? Loki comes back to life? He was realizing more and more how little he knew about what was going on with Thor’s actual life.

            Thor glanced back at Peter and then Drax and finally Loki before sighing lightly. “Could we go back to the hotel and talk about this? Our friends are worried for Drax and we have much to discuss.”

            Loki gave a small hum in response, thinking it over. After what felt like a dramatically long pause, the dark-haired man nodded, “As you wish, there is much I would like to talk about as well. I could do with a shower as well; I had forgotten how filthy Midgard was.”

            The four left the shop, headed back. Thor moved to take Peter’s hand instinctively, but the redhead pulled it back quickly, mumbling an apology. It felt weird with the new, very judging presence, the slight betrayal he felt, and those words Loki had asked that Peter had no idea what they meant.

 

            When they got to the hotel, Mantis almost cried with joy when she saw Drax was safe. Peter moved to his room, sliding in his card and expecting Loki and Thor to head off and talk by themselves but once he’s in the door, it’s suddenly slammed shut and locked. Quill whipped around, seeing the tall man in front of his door, eyes calculating, and arms crossed over his chest.

            “Uh. Hey.” Peter manages, stepping back from the door and thus Loki was well, but the other just steps forward. His entire presence was completely different than Thor’s, by the way he carried himself, spoke, and even just his general aura. He knew Thor would never hurt him, but Loki had stabbed his own brother as part of a game and laughed about it. This was not the god he wanted to be alone with, especially since it seemed he knew _something_ was happening between him and Thor.

            “What is the nature of your relationship with Thor?” Loki stepped into Peter’s space, looking down at him with a blank face, his tone almost bored but that’s how it seemed every time he had spoken so far.

            A stand-off, he could do this. Quill crossed his own arms, standing up straight and staring right into those green eyes which almost seemed to spark. “What’s it to you?”

            The smallest hint of a smirk passed over Loki’s lips before it was gone. “I am his brother, of course. The only family he has left.”

            “If I recall correctly, you left him thinking you were dead for almost 6 years and running into you today was probably coincidence. So how much could you possibly care if you let that happen?” Peter smirked back, stepping a smidge closer. “So, what’s it to you?”

            The gleam came back to Loki’s eyes at the last words, his hand coming up next to Peter as he summoned a dagger, twirling it in his fingers. “You almost sound like you know what you’re talking about.” He stated, fingers stopping their motion as he moves the dagger close, running it down Quill’s cheek slowly.

            The redhead tried not to shiver or back down in any way, just glaring up at the man in front of him. “I don’t need to know everything to know how upset Thor was with you gone. Staying up with him to make sure he was okay, listening to stories about you two as kids, watching him cry.” The knife faltered a bit at the words before pulling away completely and disappearing.

            “I really was busy; I did not mean to keep away this long.” Loki shifted a bit, glancing away in thought a minute. “You are far less cowardly than the partners Thor usually picks.”

            At the word partners, Peter fought the flush that wanted to spread across his cheeks, staying firm in his stance in front of the other. “Is this where you say ‘If you hurt my brother, I’ll kill you’ or?”

            Loki chuckled, almost darkly as he stared down into the other’s eyes. Where Thor was only slightly taller than Quill, Loki had several inches on him and towered easily. “Oh no, that was a given. But if you do manage to hurt him, and his emotions _are_ quite fragile, I will flay you where you stand.”

            That definitely made Peter’s blood run cold and to his credit he only flinched a bit. “I had no plans to.” Though he was hurting the other unintentionally and he knew that. Hopefully slight emotional hurt could be forgiven.

            “Keep it that way.” Loki stepped back, giving the other a once-over before turning and heading back to the door to head out. Peter followed quickly behind so he could shut the door and noticed Thor standing worriedly on the other side of it. Loki brushed past the blonde and Peter leaned against the door, raising a brow at him.

            “Did he hurt you?” Thor’s eyes glanced around as if Peter was going to suddenly show a knife sticking out of a limb.

            “We talked. Now go catch up with your brother.” Quill waved him off and the god nodded, relaxing a bit.

            “Alright.” Was all Thor managed before stepping away and heading back to his room where Loki was already waiting.

            Peter watched him go, a small, amused smile on his lips as he watched them squabble before Thor unlocked the room. They were going to have to talk, but it looks like Thor was already getting an ear-full tonight so it’d have to be shelved for now.

 

            The next time Peter saw the blonde, it was almost midnight and he had knocked on Quill’s door. The captain opened it up, letting him inside. Thor looked completely fried, and exhausted, frown on his lips as he automatically headed for the bed without even asking. It wasn’t like they weren't already putting their feelings talk aside, so whatever. Peter just quietly turned off the light and climbed into bed with him. They were close together but Thor hadn’t curled around him like usual yet. It was almost worrying.

            “Are you alright?” Peter finally asked, watching as those mismatched eyes came to rest on his own face, a small smile tugging on the god’s lips.

            “Yes, sorry. There was… A lot. He checked on Asgard, our home, that destroyed ship. A lot of it was as expected, no survivors, no extra hidden anything, no traces of anything.” Thor brought a hand to rub his temples, “Loki looked for so long, for anything, he found nothing. We both figured there was nothing but to really know for sure.”

            Quill reached out, wrapping his arms around the other’s chest, moving closer. “You lost so many people.”

            “Everything. We lost everything.” Thor’s eyes glistened in the light, threatening to spill tears. “Loki’s here. But…” He turned his body to press into Quill’s, face in his neck. “I am so sorry I did not tell you there was a chance Loki would come back. I was not aware he would after all this time.”

            Peter felt guilty for feeling betrayed earlier, a hand coming up to run through Thor’s hair lightly. He knew if Gamora died and came back, which _technically_ she did but that was a past Gamora, who was also likely dead, he would give up after a few years of nothing. Hell, he gave up on past Gamora after only a few months. “Hey, it doesn’t matter. Even if a guy dies once, you’re fully justified in mourning.” He sighed, closing his eyes.

            Thor gave a soft chuckle, pulling back to wipe at his eyes and just stare at Peter. “I suppose that is fair. But he has died three or four times now. It is hard to keep track.”

            “Try putting a bell on him too, so that when he _does_ come back, you’ll know where the hell he is.” Quill chuckled.

            “Do _you_ want to try putting a bell on him?” Thor chuckled louder, shaking his head, “That would go as well as trying to put Rabbit on a leash.”

            “Yeah. He bites surprisingly hard.”

            “So does Loki, trust me.”

            Quill hummed at that, sliding his arm up when Thor’s inevitably slid down to hold his waist, his own arms moving to Thor’s chest instead. His green eyes closed.

            “Peter?” Thor asked lightly, making Quill hum and open his eyes again, a bit droopier than a minute ago. “What did Loki say to you? I was so scared he did not approve and was going to hurt you. He’s a bit unpredictable at times.” His brows furrowed.

            “If anything, I think he did approve of me?” Peter chuckled and Thor raised his brow. “He said that your partners are usually cowards. And then said he’d flay me if I hurt you.”

            “He will not.” Thor frowned, disapproving but happy Loki didn’t hate him either. “But I suppose I am glad.” He paused a minute, smile returning, turning into that usual grin, “Partner huh?”

            Quill flushed lightly and rolled his eyes, “We’re getting a call in 7 hours whether we like it or not, now is definitely not the time to talk about this. Plus, I think my head’s already fucked up by your brother threatening to literally skin me.”

            Thor nodded with a soft smile again, sighing lightly before pausing a nudging an almost sleeping Peter again. “Ah, sorry, may I borrow your headphones before you go to sleep?”

            Wordlessly, Peter pulled them out of his Zune on the nightstand, handing them over as he closed his eyes again.

            “Thank you, Love. The young Peter send me something to listen to.” Thor hummed, putting a single earbud in and pushing play.

            “Hmm.” Quill responded, half asleep. He was about to drift off when his eyes snapped open and he stared at Thor who just had a smile on his lips as he stared. Peter flushed, “You know what it is?”

            “Considering it says it’s a mixtape you made for me, yes.” Thor smiled, amused, “I’ve known about it since this morning.”

            “Let me die.” Quill frowned, taking a second before grabbing the other earbud to listen to the playlist drunk Quill and teen Parker made for Thor together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a slight headcanon that even with All-Speak Asgardians have their own words for things, and that language just so happens to be Norwegian. (honestly I just like Norwegian alright?)
> 
> *Komplisert forhold? - Complicated Relationship?  
> **Romantisk forhold? - Romantic Relationship?


	13. Love Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it, Peter's going to tell him.

            6:00AM

            ~~Mission: Tell Thor I love him.~~

            ~~Mission: Convince Thor to tell me he loves me.~~

            Mission: Just fucking say something to Thor for fuck’s sake.

            Step 1: Get out of this impossible grasp.

 

            Peter’s eyes flicked over to the sleeping blonde in front of him, hair a mess and face peaceful even though his arms were in a death-grip around Peter’s waist as per usual. It took a bit of convincing, but he managed to pry the other’s hands off without so much as jostling the other. Hopefully he was tired enough to sleep through all the movement.

            So far so good. The redhead managed to slip free of the bed, taking a second to stretch before the plan was put into action. Not that it was much of a ‘plan’ as it was ‘making up steps on the fly and hoping like hell it worked out somehow’.

 

            Step 2: Make sure no one else is awake.

 

            Easy enough. Quill moved to the door, pulling it open before glancing down the hallway. It was dead silent. Good sign. After a few more seconds, he pulled back, shutting it and making sure it was locked.

 

            Step 3: Uh… Right phone. Make sure the phone was off the receiver so it couldn’t ring.

 

            Peter padded barefoot over to the nightstand, pulling the phone off and setting it awkwardly off to the side so that it wouldn’t ring. He could pull the cord instead, but he definitely didn’t feel like crawling behind the furniture to try and plug it back in afterward.

 

            Step 4: Wake him up?

 

            Although Peter felt bad about it, waking him up early would be the best option for this. It felt like now or never even though this was definitely not the only chance he could possibly have. But waiting until everyone was up would invite certain interruption and he was a bit tired of finally working up at least most of the courage only to have Drax go missing or something equally distracting.

            Alright you can do this. By now Thor had turned to lay on his back, spreading across the large expanse of the bed as if he deserved every last inch of it. Peter awkwardly crawled back onto the mattress, dodging limbs and managed to reach the other.

            “Thor.” Quill mumbled, staring down at him, hovering at his side. The god barely stirred, though an arm moved up to try and find the source of the voice to pull him back into his arms. Peter managed to dodge it, sitting back on his knees. “Thor.” He said a bit louder, arm reaching out to grab his shoulder.

            That managed to get his attention enough for one eye to peek open, followed quickly by the other as brows drew in confusion that shifted to concern. “What is wrong?” The husky, sleep-filled voice asked out, moving to try and sit up but Peter just pushed him right back down.

            “I have something to say.” The redhead stated, using his captain voice since it tended to cover up his nerves better than anything else.

 

            Step 5: Say something, anything.

 

            “Could it wait a moment? I need to wake up-“

            “No.” Peter snapped, hand still firmly on the other’s chest and he ignored the frown Thor was giving him. “Okay listen. I know I’m not exactly perfect. Sometimes I say things wrong. Sometimes I get hung up on words. Sometimes I pull the trigger literally and figuratively on things and situations that maybe I don’t understand or that make me uncomfortable. I’m not exactly an open book with stuff and I yell a lot…” He trailed off, eyes looking anywhere but at the ones below him. “I get jealous over stupid things, and mad about even dumber shit. And I still love Gamora, I do, I don’t think I could ever stop loving her. But-“ He took a small breath, eyes flicking down to the ones below him and Thor just stared, encouraging with a soft look that made Peter’s cheeks burn as he again looked away. “I’m not good with this shit, but I want to be- I want to- Ugh.” He ran a hand through his hair nervously.

            There was a long minute of pause and Thor moved his hand up, putting it over the one of Peter’s that was still glued to his chest and that got the green eyes back on him. “Take your time.” He said patiently, thumb rubbing Quill’s knuckles gently.

            The redhead visibly relaxed at that, taking a breath as he mulled over what he wanted to say. He pulled his hand back from the other’s chest but let Thor continue holding his hand regardless. “What do you think of me?” There was no use spilling his heart out if the other thought of him as just his captain, if even that.

            Thor happily held the other’s fingers, playing with them as he thought it over. “When I first met you, I thought you were the most obnoxious person I had ever met.” He pointed out, a chuckle leaving his lips as his eyes flicked up to see Peter frowning, trying to pull his hand away but the god held it firm. “But then I met you, the real you. I watched you dance when you were happy, give your all to protect those you are close to, and smile so genuinely that it makes me strive to see it again and again.” Thor’s cheeks flushed, but Peter already had matching ones as he listened, both their fingers shaking in nervous energy. “Sorry, I would be more eloquent if you had given me the chance at coffee.”

            “It’s fine.” Peter mumbled, eyes cast away again as he was seemingly trying to process the information that was given to him and decipher it.

            Before the other could overthink, Thor squeezed his hand gently and stared right up into those green eyes that were caught in his again. “I love you, Peter. That is why I have been acting the way I have around you. It is only you, no one else. It is not because friendship is different for me, it is not because I take pity on you, it is because I love you.”

            The redhead was completely silent, fingers gripping at Thor’s tighter as his face shifted in several different emotions and his hands shook with a vengeance. He was battling the instinct to bolt at the unfamiliar situation or yell at Thor because he felt trapped. But he didn’t feel trapped per se, it was hard to pinpoint. “Okay.” He finally forced out, because he was anything but smooth right now. He was still gathering his thoughts because he wasn’t expecting anything but rejection, let alone a confession of the highest degree.

            Thor stayed patient, watching Peter think as the blonde’s spare hand reached out, running along the other’s back in comfort and to show he was still there, listening.

            “I think I like you too.” Quill finally sighed, because love was a strong word that he was very unsure if he was ready to say right now.

            “Fantastic!” Thor’s eyes sparkled as he quickly sat up, almost toppling Peter in surprise, but the blonde reached out to grab onto him to keep him from falling. It was times like this that Quill couldn’t help but liken him to an excited dog. Even without the coffee, the other was grinning and his eyes full of joy. It completely melted Peter’s nerves. “What should I call you when I introduce you?”

            “Whatever you want.” The redhead mumbled, not sure exactly what word suited them.

            “My beloved?” Thor asked, moving to place his forehead against Peter’s.

            The latter of the two didn’t realize exactly how embarrassing a name the other could pick and felt himself flush again. “I… If you want. I was thinking more like boyfriend.” He mumbled out, making the slightly taller chuckle at that.

            “Boyfriend? It hardly expresses how deeply I feel.” The blonde hummed but shrugged lightly, “But if it will make you more comfortable, it is how I will introduce you.”

            Peter relaxed again at that, glad that Thor was willing to work with him on this. “Thanks.”

            A minute passed of them just staying close in each others company before Thor started up again. “How will we tell everyone?”

            Peter paused, glancing back at the door as if staring at everyone outside the room. He didn’t exactly think about that. Rocket and Mantis already knew about his feelings, and he was sure everyone else, even Drax, had picked up on it at one point or another. But at the same time sitting down and talking to everyone about it wasn’t something he was going to do. Thor was entitled to do it himself if he really wanted to, but he was sure if the god wanted to sit down and tell everyone then he’d want Peter there with him. He tried to remember what Mantis and Nebula had done when they told everyone they were together. Mantis had gone straight to Peter and told him about it, towing Nebula with her so she could show off her girlfriend. Everyone else simply ended up finding out organically. Mostly with the new couple curled up with each other, an activity open and stared in front of them.

            Once Peter turned back to Thor, the mismatched eyes were still staring at him fondly. The redhead had to resist the urge to pull away again so he could respond. “They’ll figure it out eventually. We don’t have to tell him.” It wasn’t hard to figure out that meant ‘I don’t want to make a big deal about this’ and the blonde didn’t put up a fight about it.

            “Much like Nebula and Mantis I take it.” Thor guessed, leaning in to press a light kiss against Peter’s cheek. “I don’t mind, if that’s what you’d like to do.” The god pulled back a bit, grabbing at his phone that was placed on the nightstand, checking the time and clicking through a few things. He gave a small hum. “As much as I would love to stay here with you all morning, we must join the others so that we can talk about Loki and leaving Midgard. When are we leaving?”

            Peter paused a minute, thinking in his head about how long they’d been there. They were going to have to give Carol an answer soon, meaning they were going to need to talk together about that. He felt a bit bad, knowing they’d have to leave in the next few days for sure. He didn’t even like the idea of being on Earth, let alone for extended periods of time. And if they left too late, he was sure those Earth guys were going to yell at them and that eyepatched man was going to go after them. If he didn’t already know they were there of course.

            “I can give you a few more days, because Loki showed up. Original plans were tomorrow.” Peter pointed out.

            “No, I do not need a few days.” Thor said, sighing lightly. “Knowing they are alive is more than enough for me. Plus, they are rather mad at me for joining your team. Well that and not being the captain.” He chuckled.

            “Are you sure?” Peter said far more seriously, “You just found out your sibling’s alive.”

            “I know.” Thor spoke softer, glancing up into the other’s green eyes, “They know how to find me if they ever need to, trust me. I know you are uncomfortable here, especially now that you will not have anything preoccupying your mind. We talked a lot last night; I am sure they are tired of my presence. They have agreed to be Monarch of Asgard in my stead.”

            Peter nodded slowly before moving to climb off the bed. “Well, then we have a lot to talk about with everyone.” He ran his fingers through his hair before pausing. “But first, a shower.”

            The blonde got up as well, padding over the cold floor before wrapping his arms around his new partner’s waist from behind. “Would you like company?”

            The redhead almost choked at that, losing the battle with a flush before pushing away from the god. “Fuck off, you have your own shower.” And with that, he disappeared into the bathroom with a huff. He swore he heard a chuckle come from the other side of the door.


End file.
